


Charlie Gets DENNISed

by charliekellysupportgroup



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Anal, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dennis is a Bastard Man, Emotional Manipulation, Extremely Dubious Consent, M/M, Past Sexual Abuse, Suicide Attempt, The DENNIS system, handjobs, like it's not even dubcon it's kind of just rape, not that happy though, shit gets wild yall, wow never thought I'd tag that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-12-30 04:25:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18308159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charliekellysupportgroup/pseuds/charliekellysupportgroup
Summary: Charlie Kelly is cute, innocent, stupid, and way too quick to trust. This makes him the perfect target for Dennis’ system of seduction.





	1. D-Demonstrate Value

Dennis was sweating. He reached under the bar and pulled out another few beers, opened them hastily, and slid them towards the small group of customers waiting at the end of the bar. His hand was starting to cramp up from using the bottle opener so much. It felt like the bar was pulling in ten times the number of customers it usually had, but the only patrons seemed to be a couple groups of old drunks.

“Damn, you guys are thirsty,” Dennis quipped, casting a forced smile towards the old men. They stared back at him with blank expressions. Dennis felt underappreciated. He thought about grabbing a bottle and smashing it over one of their heads. An empty bottle may have been a little easier to weild, but there was no denying the satisfaction of ice-cold beer splattering over his victim’s head along with the shower of broken glass (and blood if Dennis was lucky).

_Not today,_ he thought to himself. Maybe if Dee has been there and Dennis had had someone else to take over his bartending duties in the event that he snapped and attacked a customer, he would have absolutely massacred those old men. But not today. Today had to be the day that Charlie and Mac came up with a donkey-brained scheme that ended in Dee getting food poisoning.

Granted, calling it food poisoning was generous. Sure, Dee had eaten something and gotten sick, but in this case it had been because the food she had eaten was literally full of poison. Mac and Charlie had had the brilliant idea to start a food truck, and they hadn’t even gotten past the “food” part of that plan before they’d managed to poison Dee with one of their proposed dishes. Moral of the story? Cooking at Charlie’s house is probably a bad idea, considering he has jars of poison in his fridge labelled as things like pickle relish.

If it wasn’t for Charlie and Mac’s already established stupidity (and the fact that Dennis heard Dee throwing up after the pickle relish incident), Dennis probably would’ve assumed Dee was faking this food poisoning in order to force Dennis to do her job. It would be just like her to force him into the menial job of bartending, to leave him sweating and out of breath as he worked his ass off all day pedalling beer to drunk old men. He made a mental note that if he ever did go through with the whole bludgeoning people with beer bottles thing, he’d make sure to include Dee in the bludgeoning. Not that this particular incident was her fault, but situations like this tended to be, so she deserved it.

A chorus of shouts erupted from the bathroom. Dennis didn’t want to abandon his post at the bar (time was money no matter how much he hated the job) but he figured it was just Mac and Charlie going off at each other about something. Probably a movie Dennis didn’t care about, or a stupid scheme Dennis didn’t care about, or something else he didn’t care about.

But Dennis did care about whatever they were saying. He had to know what was going on. He had to be a part of the action, he had to be seen and heard and he had to make sure Mac and Charlie didn’t poison anyone else. Still afraid that leaving his post would give at least half the old men in the bar an incentive to haul ass and make off without paying for all that beer, Dennis shouted in the general direction of the bathroom instead.

“What the hell is going on in there?”

Immediately Mac and Charlie burst out of the bathroom door, still squabbling. Mac’s hair was sopping wet, as was the top half of his shirt.

“He gave me a swirly!” Mac yelled, pointing a finger accusingly at Charlie.

“I was cleaning a toilet, and he was in my way,” Charlie argued. “He left me no choice.”

“You absolutely did have a choice,” Mac retorted. “You had a choice whether or not to shove my head into a toilet before you flushed it!”

 

“Shut up!” Dennis shouted. “Mac, are you twelve? How did you manage to get swirlied by a man six inches shorter than you?”

“I’m not six inches shorter,” Charlie protested. “He’s got three inches on me at most.”

“Enough. I honestly couldn't care less,” Dennis snapped. “Mac, go clean the bathroom.”

“Why? That’s Charlie work! And he’s the one who-”

“Consider it punishment for the incredible weakness you showed in managing to get your head shoved in a toilet by Charlie. You’re pathetic. Charlie work is pathetic. It fits.”

Mac grumbled as he sulked back into the bathroom. Once again, Dennis had managed to hold authority over him. Mac was easy in that way. Dennis could probably convince him to jump off a building if he took the time to fully utilise his skills of persuasion. Dennis smiled at the thought, revelling in the power he held over his friend.

“Charlie,” he said, an air of dominance in his voice. “Sit.” He pointed at a booth in the corner, which Charlie approached cautiously.

“Why?” Charlie asked.

“Well, if you want to behave like a child, you shouldn’t be surprised when you’re treated like a child,” Dennis said with a smirk. “I mean, really, giving Mac a swirly? That’s low even for you. I’m putting you in time-out.”

“Why should I listen to you?” Charlie asked, sitting down slowly in the booth. He gave Dennis a suspicious look, but as Dennis noted, Charlie was still willing to comply with his demands at least somewhat.

“Because I’m a bartender, and you’re a janitor. I outrank you. Besides, it’s not like you have anything better to do. I’ve got Mac cleaning your bathroom.”

“Yeah… why’d you make him do that?”

“Frankly, I just find you slightly less annoying.” It was true. Mac and Charlie were similar in that neither ever seemed to shut up, but whereas Mac was just annoying, Charlie occasionally said something thought-provoking. This was probably unintentional on Charlie’s part, but it was honestly part of what Dennis enjoyed about Charlie-his fractured psyche was built up in just such a way that he could share the intimate details of his childhood trauma while all the while being convinced he was telling a funny joke.

Charlie nodded slowly. “Slightly less annoying than Mac” was quite the compliment coming from Dennis. He allowed himself a smile at the thought that for once Dennis wasn’t being a complete asshole to him. Maybe getting Dee sick was a good idea, considering it had lead to Dennis working hard enough to wear himself down and destroy his rough exterior. Sweet, tired Dennis was a lot easier to deal with than bitter asshole Dennis.

“Hey, prettyboy,” one of the old men grunted. “Another round, maybe?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dennis grumbled, shaking his head. He tossed another round of beers toward the old men.

“Dennis?” Charlie shouted. “When am I out of time-out?”

“I don’t fucking know, Charlie, do whatever you want,” Dennis shot back. “I’m dying over here.”

Dennis pulled at the collar of his shirt, which was now soaked in sweat. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt in an effort to cool down. Another group of old guys walked in, and Dennis let out a groan of frustration. He unbuttoned another button before grabbing a few beers for the new customers.

Dennis looked over the shoulder of one of the old men already at the bar to see Charlie still sitting in the time-out booth. He made uncomfortable eye contact with Dennis, and Dennis suddenly realised Charlie had been watching him the whole time. Sensing an opportunity, Dennis raised his eyebrows, stared him dead in the eyes, and unbuttoned another button. By now, his shirt was practically halfway open, exposing most of his chest, and it was less about cooling off and more about fucking with Charlie. Dennis stared intently at Charlie, waiting for him to react. Charlie raised his eyebrows in response to Dennis, set his hands in his lap and shifted a bit so said hands were hidden under the table. Dennis couldn’t help but smile. He had Charlie in the palm of his hand; he could bend him to his every wish.

“Dennis, I cleaned the bathroom,” Mac called, stepping out of the bathroom. Then, noticing Dennis’ half-open shirt, he raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to use your sex appeal on these old men?”

“What? No, I’m just… a little hot, that’s all,” Dennis replied. “Considering I’m having to work the damn bar all by myself!”

“I mean, you look like you’re doing pretty well,” Charlie commented.

“Why is Charlie sitting alone over in that booth?” Mac asked.

“Oh, I put him in time-out,” Dennis replied.

“Dennis, he’s an adult man.”

“That’s… debatable.”

“Alright,” Mac conceded. “But that still doesn’t explain how you got him to sit in time-out.”

“I think he just… likes to watch me work,” Dennis mused, looking over at Charlie. He was still hiding his hands under the table. Dennis opened another few beers for the old men. He slid them masterfully across the bar, winking at Charlie as he did so.

“Okay then,” Mac said, nodding. “You guys have fun.” He made his way out of the bar, leaving Charlie and Dennis to their business.

“I think I’m gonna go too,” Charlie said shakily a few minutes after Mac had left. He started to stand up, slowly and carefully, one hand still held in front of his junk.

“Oh no, you can stay,” Dennis told him. “I don’t mind.” He gave Charlie a look that practically screamed “please stay”, but Charlie wasn’t having it.

“Well, I mind, because Mac definitely messed up the bathroom to get back at me for that swirly,” Charlie replied. He stumbled off, possibly to clean the bathroom but definitely to clean himself up.

“What a shame,” Dennis said, half to himself. It really was a pity-for that brief few minutes, Dennis felt he truly had control of Charlie. Hell, he’d got him to masturbate. Dennis had to admit, controlling Charlie was unbelievably fun. He was soft, malleable, easy to mold to Dennis’ will.

Dennis wanted more. He wanted to control Charlie in the same way he controlled everyone he seduced. And since he’d already managed to demonstrate enough value with his bartending skills to get Charlie hot under the collar, Dennis figured the following steps would come naturally. Sure, it might be a little too easy, but if Dennis played his cards right, he would have total control over someone. It would be perfect.

A loud banging noise snapped Dennis out of his fantasy. One of the old men was slamming an empty bottle against the bar in an effort to get his attention.

“Hey, asshole!” he shouted. “Button your damn shirt up and get me another beer!”

“Fine, fine, cool it,” Dennis replied, opening another beer for the old man. He considered grabbing one for himself, but the day was almost over anyway, and he and Mac were having their movie night that night, so they’d wind up drinking later. In fact, the movie night would give him the perfect opportunity to invite Charlie over and engage him physically. It would definitely be a lot more interesting than watching Predator for the eighty millionth time.

Dennis smiled to himself all the way home. It had been a while since he’d truly had a chance to execute his system on someone, and it had been even longer since he’d used it on someone as sweet and vulnerable as Charlie. In fact, Dennis was a bit mad at himself for not using his system on Charlie sooner.

“Hey, Mac,” he announced as he walked into their apartment. “Is it cool with you if I invite Charlie over tonight?”

“Uh, no, it’s _not_ cool,” Mac retorted. “I’m mad at Charlie right now.”

“Why?”

“Because he gave me a swirly.”

“And then you messed up the bathroom?”

“Well, yeah, kind of.”

“So you’re even now.”

“Alright, sure,” Mac agreed. “You can have Charlie over tonight, but you better not try and pull this shit when we have our night out next week.”

“Don’t worry, Mac,” Dennis assured him. “I’ll probably be done with him by then.”

“Done with him?”

“Oh, I’m going to DENNIS him,” Dennis explained.

“Why?”

“Because he’s easy to take advantage of.”

“Okay, you’re not wrong,” Mac said. “I just… are you gonna fuck him?”

“No, Mac, the DENNIS system isn’t just about sex, it’s about control. It’s about holding someone in the palm of your hand, molding them like soft clay. And Charlie is the perfect candidate.”

“Sure. Just let me know when you’re done banging him so I can swoop in.”

“You’re gonna Move in After Completion?” Dennis asked, ignoring the comment about banging.

“Sure, dude! I haven’t been able to use _my_ system since I came out as gay and all, so I think this’ll be a good chance to like, try things out.”

“Don’t tell me you’re considering having your first… gay experience… with Charlie?”

“Oh, no, it’s not gonna be my first. Remember that one Saint Patrick’s Day when I went to the Rainbow?”

“Oh. Yeah, I remember.”

“Cool! So you fuck Charlie-”

“I never said I was fucking him.”

“Okay, so you do whatever you’re doing to Charlie, and then I’ll move in after completion!”

“Cool!”

“Cool! Let’s call him over, I’ll do my black widow spider routine.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” Dennis told him. “I can do this myself. Just wait your turn.”

Mac nodded obediently as Dennis called up Charlie. Both of them were very pleased with themselves-this was going to be a scheme for the ages.


	2. E-Engage Physically

“Uh, of course I wanna watch Predator with you and Mac!” Charlie said excitedly. Dennis hadn’t expected anything less, but he still felt relieved that he’d actually been able to get Charlie to come over.

“Great! Just come over whenever, we’ll wait for you,” Dennis told him. He managed to keep his voice level, but it was getting harder and harder to hide his anticipation. It wasn’t even that he was excited to do one thing in particular-he just wanted to have Charlie for himself, at his disposal, to do anything and everything he wanted. Maybe he would wind up fucking him after all.

Actually, that wasn’t really a maybe. Sure, Dennis might have told Mac their relationship would be nonsexual to save face, but the more Dennis thought about fucking Charlie, the more he began to want it. After all, there’s really no better way to assert one’s dominance, Dennis thought. Charlie would have to take a shower first-the man was disgusting-but sex would definitely be on the table. Eventually.

In the meantime, Dennis just wanted to keep Charlie as his own, to have him on a short leash and to keep him in his sight constantly. He wanted to control as much of Charlie’s life as possible: when he woke up, when he ate, when he bathed, what he did at work. He wanted to stare into those big, innocent green eyes as he gently ran his thumb across Charlie’s scruffy beard, he wanted to hear Charlie whimper as he nipped at his neck. Dennis wanted to make Charlie feel things, all the things Dennis wanted him to feel and whenever Dennis wanted him to feel them. He wanted control, the likes of which he could only ever get with someone like Charlie.

Dennis rushed to the door when he heard Charlie knocking. He yanked it open and, to his horror, found Frank standing alongside Charlie.

“Why is Frank here?” Dennis demanded.

“I thought he could come,” Charlie said. “Why, do you not like him or something?”

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” Dennis said through gritted teeth.” “It’s just that it’s kind of weird to have my dad here while we’re… having our bros’ night.”

“Oh, bros’ night, I get it!” Charlie replied, nodding. “Frank can be a bro, right?”

“No, he can’t,” Dennis growled. “Frank. Get out of my apartment.”

“Okay,” Frank agreed, “but you better have Charlie home by twelve.”

“You know what? No. I can do what I want,” Dennis shot back. He grabbed Charlie by the hand and yanked him inside, then promptly slammed the door in Frank’s face. It was a poor start to engaging physically, but Dennis knew he would improve as the night went on. He eased his grip on Charlie’s hand but didn’t let go, leading him gently to the couch.

Dennis finally let go of Charlie’s hand and took his seat in the middle of the couch next to Mac, who had already set up the movie and was chowing down on a bowl of popcorn. Charlie sat down next to Dennis, leaning off the arm of the couch. The space between him and Dennis was a little too much for good physical engagement, but Dennis could make do. As Mac pressed play and immediately started going off about how bulky everyone was, Dennis rested his hand on Charlie’s thigh. Charlie looked at him in surprise, but didn’t make any effort to remove his hand. Dennis took this as an invitation. He slid his hand up Charlie’s thigh, moving it dangerously close to his cock. Dennis felt he was above straight up fondling Charlie out in the open like this, but he was going to get as close as he could to that. Charlie stared down at Dennis’ hand uncomfortably, his eyes dilating just enough for Dennis to notice. Dennis smiled to himself. He had Charlie exactly where he wanted him.

The noises of the movie and Mac’s incessant babbling were ruining the mood just a little bit, and Dennis was regretting not going with the black widow spider routine after all. He’d have to figure out some excuse to get Charlie to come back to his bedroom with him, and then he could really go to town on him. Maybe he could look past the coating of dirt and grime that followed Charlie wherever he went. After all, the more Dennis looked at Charlie, the more he wanted him, and he might not have the patience for a shower after already waiting through the whole movie.

Charlie was still laser-focused on Dennis’ hand in his lap. He cautiously moved his own hand over it, guiding Dennis’ hand over the bulge in his jeans. He was embarrassingly hard. Dennis smiled. Maybe Charlie really would be too easy.

“Woah there, buddy,” Dennis whispered, pulling his hand away. Charlie looked up at him, his face going beet-red.

“I-” Charlie stammered. His own hand was still resting on his dick even though Dennis had moved back to his thigh.

“Do you really want me to take care of you?” Dennis asked, looking Charlie dead in the eyes. His eyes were wide and hungry. Dennis loved it. He’d barely touched Charlie, and he’d still managed to make him so fucking desperate.

Charlie nodded meekly.

“Bathroom. Now,” Dennis hissed. Charlie stood up and shambled his way to the bathroom. Dennis waited a bit before following him, just to feed into that desperation.

“I’ll be right back,” Dennis said to Mac before leaping up to follow Charlie. Mac gave him a thumbs-up, not taking his eyes off the movie.

Dennis rushed into the bathroom, ready to claim his prize. He found Charlie standing on the bathroom rug with one hand tugging at his zipper and the other held behind his back. Charlie paused when he heard Dennis enter the room, staring up at him with those same hungry eyes.

“You’re so desperate,” Dennis mused.

Charlie didn’t respond, just kept staring at Dennis with that look that just screamed “touch me”. Dennis walked closer to him, so close that they were nearly touching. He placed a hand under Charlie’s chin and tilted his head up so their eyes met.

“You really want me to touch you?” Dennis whispered, his voice deep and smooth.

“Y-yeah,” Charlie said meekly. “Please.”

“Beg,” Dennis commanded.

“What?”

“Beg for me, Charlie.” Dennis brushed his hand over Charlie’s cheek. Charlie’s face went red again.

“Come on, Den,” Charlie whined. “I-I just want… you know what I want. Come on.”

“I didn’t hear a single ‘please’ just then,” Dennis said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. He smiled a sinister smile and ran his hand through Charlie’s hair. “Try again.”

“I don’t wanna. Can we just do this, man? It’s already weird, and you’re making weirder, can we just get it over with?”

“We are not going to get it over with,” Dennis growled, “until you ask nicely.” A genuine grin of excitement crossed his face briefly-he was finally getting to really have his fun with Charlie. Charlie was shaky and sweaty, clearly nervous about the situation.

“Please, Dennis,” he whimpered. “Please just fucking touch me already.”

“Good boy,” Dennis said sweetly, planting a soft kiss on Charlie’s forehead. Then he reached down and unzipped Charlie’s pants, pulling them down just enough so he could get his hand where he needed it. Charlie jumped at his touch initially, but soon began to enjoy it a great deal, pushing himself into Dennis’ gentle hand. The room was damn near silent throughout the ordeal except for the occasional grunt or whine from Charlie, which Dennis was thankful for-after all, he wasn’t entirely cool with the idea of Mac listening in on this.

Charlie let out a heavy sigh as he came. Most of it wound up either in Dennis’ hand or down the front of Charlie’s jeans, which was at least preferable to it winding up on the rug. Dennis moved to wash his hand off, only to have Charlie collapse onto him.

“You okay, buddy?” Dennis asked, dropping his dominant persona in exchange for a slightly more caring one. He rested his clean hand across Charlie’s back, more for emotional support than physical support.

“Today doesn’t count,” Charlie mumbled.

“What?”

“It doesn’t count. I’m gonna go home, and tomorrow we’re gonna pretend this never happened.”

“Why? Was I not good?”

“No, you were great. That’s part of the problem. I can’t be banging one of my friends!”

“Says who?”

“It’s just… weird. Plus, I’m not like… gay.”

Dennis laughed a bit at that one. “Charlie, you got off to me unbuttoning my shirt. I saw you. And now you’re here, cumming into my hand! What makes you think you’re not gay?”

“I dunno. I just didn’t think I could be gay.”

“Alright, dude, you’re getting a little too deep for me. This is the kind of discussion you should probably be having with Mac. He actually did the whole realising you’re gay thing, I just kinda fucked whoever I wanted and never really thought about it.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Yeah. Actually, can you get off me? I need to wash your jizz off my hand.”

“Sure,” Charlie said. He still took his sweet time lifting his head off Dennis’ chest, seemingly unsure of how exactly to stand on his own. Dennis loved seeing him like that. So tired, so vulnerable, so… dependent.

Dennis rinsed off his hand in the sink while Charlie pulled his pants back on. He didn’t make any move to remedy the stain down the front of his jeans, but Dennis let it slide. It was dark, you’d have to be looking for it in order to see it. Besides, as pathetic as it sounds, the stain gave Dennis a small sense of pride. _He_ was responsible for that. _He’d_ gotten Charlie to make a mess of himself.

Oddly enough, Dennis found himself wanting to kiss Charlie again. He was so fucking cute, standing there in his cum-stained pants with beads of sweat still running down his face. He really was a mess. Dennis dried off his hand and then turned back towards Charlie, looking him over. He seemed noticeably shaken by the experience, staring down at the floor in order to avoid looking at Dennis. Dennis approached him once more, running his hand through Charlie’s soft, messy hair.

“You ready to go finish watching the movie?” Dennis asked sweetly. He planted a soft kiss on Charlie’s cheek. Charlie shuddered.

“I wanna go home,” he said shyly.

“Why? I thought you said I was good. I thought you enjoyed this.”

“I did, but… this isn’t right. Not in like a homophobic way, I just… I can’t do this.”

“No, baby, it’s okay,” Dennis assured him. He was trying to be sweet, but he could feel himself getting angry. Charlie couldn’t be trying to shake him already, that wasn’t how the system worked. “This is your first time doing something like this with a man, it’s okay to be nervous.”

“It’s-it’s not really my first time,” Charlie mumbled. He was still staring at the floor, and his hands were starting to shake a little.

“What? When did you-”

“I don’t wanna talk about it!” Charlie snapped, jerking himself away from Dennis. He stormed out of the bathroom, and Dennis stood in shock as he watched him go. He couldn’t help feeling disappointed-he really thought he was getting somewhere with Charlie, hell, he’d gotten Charlie to beg for him. But it was all for nothing. Dennis shook his head and tried to follow Charlie out of the bathroom, only to find him leaving the apartment. Dennis once again let him go. He’d try again tomorrow, he figured. Maybe he’d have more luck.

“Dude,” Mac said, turning to Dennis. He actually paused the movie to talk to him, which was surprising. “What the hell did you to him?”

“Nothing,” Dennis replied. “I just jerked him off! Then he got all freaked out about how it was gay or something. Naturally, I thought he was nervous about being with a man for the first time, but he told me it wasn’t his first time with a man, so I don’t know what’s with him.”

“Wait, he told you he’s been with a guy before?” Mac asked, shocked.

“Yeah,” Dennis replied. “Did you know about this?”

“About Charlie banging a dude? I mean, he got molested by his uncle as a kid, but I don’t think that counts.”

“Oh yeah,” Dennis said. “I forgot about that. That… would explain a lot.”

“You really think that’s what he was talking about?”

“I mean, it could be. It’s definitely more likely than Charlie actually banging a dude.”

“Shit,” Mac whispered. “Den, I think you gotta stop this.”

“Stop what?”

“You can’t DENNIS Charlie.”

“I thought you were on board with this! You were gonna Move in After Completion, remember?”

“I was, but that was before we realised he was all traumatised and shit!”

“Fine,” Dennis agreed. “I won’t DENNIS him.”

“You’re lying to me.”

“Okay, okay, I’m lying. But here’s the thing. I’m DENNISing Charlie whether you like it or not, so you can either Move in After Completion, or you can be mister morality and all that and lose out on a good bang.”

“You’re a monster.”

“Oh, shut up.” Dennis resumed his seat on the couch next to Mac and grabbed the remote. The noises of Predator served to drown out any remorse he might have had for his actions. Charlie was going to be his, no matter what Mac said. It didn’t matter that he was traumatised. In fact, that would probably make him even more vulnerable and easy to control.

Was Dennis a monster for taking advantage of Charlie like this? Probably. But Dennis knew he was a monster. That had never stopped him in the past, why should it stop him with Charlie?

Dennis took a while getting to sleep that night, but it wasn’t just his usual insomnia for once. He spent an embarrassingly long time lying awake thinking about Charlie. It wasn’t exactly fantasizing (Dennis found the idea of fantasizing to be pathetic), but he was really enjoying it regardless. Charlie’s trauma somehow made him even more appealing-Dennis imagined him spread out on a bed, pinned beneath his strong hands, sobbing uncontrollably. He imagined the fear in Charlie’s eyes as he had his way with him, rough and dirty and as painful as he could get away with. Those soft, soft eyes-so sweet and innocent. Dennis wanted to fuck the innocence right out of those eyes. He wanted to hold Charlie down and destroy him.

Dennis kept the top two buttons of shirt open that day. Mac looked at him with contempt as they drove to work.

“I wasn’t kidding, you know,” Mac said. “You gotta stop with the whole Charlie thing.”

“Actually, I don’t,” Dennis retorted, “because I don’t have to listen to you.”

“I didn’t say you had to listen to me, I just think it’s kind of fucked up that you’re trying to bang our traumatised friend.”

“Oh, well, don’t just reduce him to his trauma,” Dennis argued. “He’s got character, he’s sweet, he’s funny, he’s…”

“Mentally and emotionally stunted?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s not why I want him.”

 

“Dennis, I know you, that’s exactly why you want him. And come on, you _want_ him? That sounds so sketchy, dude.”

“Come on, you had no problem with my system when I used it on women! What’s wrong with Charlie?”

“‘Cause we both know Charlie, dude. He can’t handle something like this.”

“He can, don’t worry. I’ll go slow, I’ll ease him into it. It may take a little longer than I originally anticipated, but he will be mine. Don’t you worry.”

“You’re the worst, Dennis. You are actually the worst.”

“I know,” Dennis said with a grin as he pulled up to the curb. He strode confidently into Paddy’s only to find Charlie seated at the bar, beer in hand. Dennis knew deep down he’d caused it, but he refused to let his conscience get the better of him. Mac, on the other hand, was horrified.

“Charlie, holy shit, you’re drinking?” he shouted. “Dude, it’s like nine in the morning! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Charlie snapped. He turned slowly towards Mac and Dennis. His eyes were red and puffy, and he looked like he hadn’t slept all night. Dennis found it unbelievably hot. He was so pathetic and adorable, and Dennis loved it.

“You look like shit,” Mac argued.

“I do not! I’m fine!” Charlie yelled, slamming his beer on the counter.

Dennis calmly took a seat next to Charlie, resting one hand on the bar and cupping Charlie’s face with the other.

“Charlie, baby, calm down,” he said sweetly. “It’s okay.”

Charlie grumbled, then took another long sip of his beer. Mac sighed and went to the back office, not wanting to watch Dennis do whatever he was about to do to Charlie. Dennis was thankful for this. Now he just had to hope that Frank and Dee stayed away from the bar for just a little while longer.

“You didn’t sleep last night, did you?” Dennis asked.

“No,” Charlie admitted.

“Why not?”

“I was scared.”

“Of what?”

“Nothing. It’ll sound stupid.”

“Charlie, I promise I won’t make fun of you.”

“When have you ever _not_ made fun of someone?”

“Okay, okay, but… you can trust me. Do you trust me, Charlie?” Dennis raised his eyebrows and stared into Charlie’s soft green eyes.

“I was scared of-of Nightman.”

That hit Dennis unexpectedly hard. Maybe Mac was right after all. Maybe Charlie really did have deep, deep scars from his childhood trauma, and it would be sick of Dennis to take advantage of that.

“Nightman’s not real,” Dennis told him. He knew how wrong he was, but it didn’t sound all that ridiculous when he said it out loud. Charlie was just afraid of a monster under his bed, it was just stupid kid stuff. Except it wasn’t. Dennis knew damn well it wasn’t, and he hated himself for trying to pretend it was.

“But he is, dude. I tried to tell you. Last night, when I said it wasn’t my first time…” Charlie’s eyes started to water again. Dennis gently wiped his tears away.

“You know he can’t hurt you,” Dennis said. “You’re safe here, okay?”

“I know, I know,” Charlie sobbed. “It’s just-last night, when you-it reminded me of him. It’s not your fault.” He collapsed face down on the bar, occasionally shaking with the force of his own sobs. Dennis put his arm around Charlie.

“Look, buddy, I know this is hard,” he whispered. “I know you’re scared. I can help you.”

“You really think so?” Charlie asked.

“Of course,” Dennis smiled. “I’ll hold you, I’ll keep you safe, I’ll let you know everything’s okay. And… if you still wanna be with me… I promise I’ll take it slow, okay?”

“Okay,” Charlie agreed, sounding a little calmer. He lifted his head to look at Dennis, and a smile crossed his tear-stained face. “Thanks, Den.”

“You’re welcome, baby,” Dennis replied, gently kissing Charlie on his forehead.

Dennis sat next to Charlie and watched him as he finished off his beer. For a moment, he allowed himself a smile. Everything was going according to plan. He’d get to fuck Charlie, and then he’d help him through whatever traumatic flashbacks Charlie experienced. It was twisted, sure, but it was also a classic DENNIS system tactic-create a dependency, and then nurture the shit out of it. And god, was Dennis excited to nurture Charlie.


	3. N-Nurture Dependence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuing the trend of Dennis being the absolute worst, warning for non-con in this chapter.

Dennis invited Charlie over again that night. There was no movie night with Mac that night-in fact, Dennis was reluctant to come up with any plan at all. Still, Charlie had a feeling he knew exactly what Dennis had planned for him. He wasn’t looking forward to it; in fact, he felt the lump in his throat get bigger as the day went on and his meeting with Dennis drew closer. Charlie must’ve asked Mac a hundred times if he was going to be home that night. Mac may have been a terrible security guard, but his presence still made Charlie feel safe.

“Dude, it’ll be okay,” Mac assured Charlie. He barely believed it himself, but he didn’t say that. “I know Dennis is a little… creepy. If you don’t wanna be alone with him, I’ll stay with you, alright?”

“No, that’ll look suspicious if you’re following us around,” Charlie said. “Just like, if you hear me screaming or anything, don’t be afraid to bust down some doors.” He smiled, but there was still a twinge of fear in his eyes.

“You know, you don’t have to come over,” Mac told him.

“Nah, it’s fine. I mean, it’s Dennis. He wouldn’t hurt me _that_ bad, right?”

“I… wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Mac warned.

In fact, Mac was possibly more worried about Charlie and Dennis’ meeting than even Charlie himself. He’d known Charlie since the two of them were little kids; he knew how easily Charlie could be taken advantage of. Really, he just didn’t want to see him get hurt.

He expressed this to Dennis while the two of them sat on the couch that evening, awaiting Charlie’s arrival.

“I told you, Mac, I’m not planning on fucking him,” Dennis said.

“Really?” Mac asked. “Then what are you planning on doing? Yesterday you just jerked him off, and that got him messed up. If you do something to him…”

“I’m not going to do anything to him.”

“Then why did you invite him over?”

“Simple. We’ll order some pizza, have a nice dinner, and then we’ll go to my room and watch TV or something.”

“Why do you have to go to your room? There’s a TV out here.”

“Because frankly, Mac, you tend to ruin the mood.”

“The mood? What kind of mood?”

“Look, it’s really none of your business, okay?”

“Fine. Just… don’t hurt him.”

“Why would I ever want to hurt him?”

“I don’t know, okay? It just seems like something you’d do.”

“I would not! I don’t know how you can accuse me of such a thing, I’d never hurt him!”

“Fine, sure,” Mac muttered in agreement. Dennis shook his head. He couldn’t imagine what Mac was referring to when he said not to hurt Charlie. Sure, some might consider Dennis’ methods cruel, but Mac had had no issue with them in the past. And even if he was worried about Charlie’s trauma, he still would have been overreacting. Dennis wasn’t going to exploit Charlie’s trauma on purpose. Okay, maybe he was kind of looking forward to holding him close and comforting him through a traumatic flashback, but he’d never hurt Charlie just for that.

There’d have to be just a little more in it for him. Like maybe a really good bang.

Dennis heard a knock on the door a few minutes later. He opened it to find Charlie, hands shaking in the pockets of his jacket. Charlie stared wordlessly at Dennis, his big green eyes full of fear. Dennis smiled, staring him down hungrily.

“You can come in,” he said, putting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and guiding him gently into the apartment. Charlie flinched at the touch.

“So… w-what’s the plan?” Charlie asked shakily.

“Oh, not much,” Dennis replied. “We’ll just order some pizza, maybe watch a little TV in my room. Nothing special, really.”

Mac shook his head as he watched from the couch.

“That sounds alright, actually,” Charlie agreed. He was still a little wary of what Dennis might have planned for him.

“Come on, buddy,” Dennis said, gesturing at the kitchen table. “Just have a seat, I’ll order us a pizza.”

Charlie sat down at the table, hands folded in his lap. He stared intently at Dennis as he ordered a pizza. Dennis kept on smiling at him-he looked so sweet and obedient. It was unbelievably hot.

Dennis sat down across from him as they waited for the pizza to arrive.

“How’re you holding up?” he asked. “I know you were having a rough time this morning, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, you know?”

“Yeah, I’m… I’m good,” Charlie mumbled. “Can I have a beer, actually?”

“Of course!” Dennis agreed, hastily grabbing Charlie a beer from the fridge. This would play perfectly into his system-Charlie would probably be even easier to get into bed if he was drunk.

Charlie eagerly accepted the beer, opening it and downing half the can in one go.

“Is Mac gonna eat pizza with us?” he asked.

“No, not today,” Dennis replied. “I figured we could spend some time together as just the two of us, if that’s cool with you.”

“Yeah, okay.” It was most certainly not cool with Charlie, but he was reasonably afraid of disappointing Dennis. The man was terrifying, especially when he was mad.

They ended up sharing the pizza in almost complete silence. There was a lot of awkward eye contact across the table, though. At least, it was awkward for Charlie. For Dennis, it was carefully calculated and designed to make Charlie as confused and terrified as possible. Everything Dennis did during the meal was simply prep work for when the two of them would retire to his bedroom. By the end of it, Charlie had had upwards of four beers and was watching Dennis out of the corner of his eye.

“Come on, baby,” Dennis whispered, taking Charlie by the hand. His hand was covered in grease from the pizza, but they could deal with that later. “Let’s go to my room.”

“Why? Can’t we just watch TV out here with Mac?” Charlie protested.

“God, what’s with you today?” Dennis asked, shaking his head. “It’s all Mac this, Mac that. What’s with you and Mac?”

“I just thought-”

Dennis smirked menacingly. He pulled Charlie close to him and whispered harshly in his ear.

“Did Mac let you cum in his hand, you little slut?”

Charlie swallowed hard. The cruel twinge to Dennis’ voice, the sudden turn towards vulgarity, it all made him a bit sick. He shook his head in fear.

“That’s what I thought,” Dennis said more gently this time. He ran his hand through Charlie’s hair. That sort of gesture was usually intended to be comforting, but in this case it made Charlie shudder.

“Let’s go, I guess,” Charlie muttered. Dennis smiled and led him back to his bedroom.

Dennis’ room didn’t look all that threatening. It was a good-sized master bedroom, complete with an en-suite bathroom and a TV in front of the bed. There was a wardrobe in the corner, and a chest of drawers against one of the walls. At first glance, it could have been a normal bedroom. Except Charlie knew what that chest of drawers contained.

While he’d never actually seen one of Dennis’ sex tapes, he was willing to take Mac’s word that they not only existed, but were quite comprehensive-each one labelled with a name and rating. Charlie wondered if he was going to be filmed. He wondered what his rating would be.

He didn’t wonder if he was going to have sex with Dennis. He’d known that would be the case long before he’d even entered the apartment. It was inevitable-despite his best efforts to avoid such an encounter, it was going to happen whether he liked it or not. Of course, it could be argued that Charlie had in a way agreed to the sexual encounter when he stepped in the door (it was pretty obvious that that was what Dennis wanted out of this), but he still felt gross about it. If Dennis had asked him right then if he wanted to go home, he probably would have said yes. But he was too scared to just get up and leave. The price of angering Dennis was just too great.

“Where’s your TV remote?” Charlie asked, hoping to delay the whole sex thing for at least a while.

Dennis glanced half heartedly around the room, even opening a drawer for good measure. It was clearly an act. He knew exactly where the remote was, but he wouldn’t cough it up.

“Shit,” he said. “I guess I lost it.”

“You don’t lose things!” Charlie argued.

“Apparently I do,” Dennis replied. “Guess we’ll have to find something else to do, huh?”

“I guess,” Charlie sighed. “Do you… maybe wanna watch TV with Mac?”

“No! We’ve been over this!” Dennis snapped. “Anyway… when was the last time you bathed, exactly?”

“Uh. Probably like, two or three days ago?”

“Okay, okay, I can live with that,” Dennis thought aloud. “You’re still disgusting, but at least I won’t be banging you through an inch-thick layer of grime.” He’d still probably have to wash both himself and his bedsheets after fucking Charlie, but they could work on cleanliness later. Right now, all Dennis wanted was to pin him down and fucking destroy him.

Charlie was still just staring blankly at him.

“Oh, you’re not… you haven’t realised?” Dennis laughed. “Sweet, sweet Charlie. You poor little thing.” Dennis approached him once again, cupping his face in his hands and staring him dead in the eyes.

Charlie began to tear up. He forced it back, not wanting to upset Dennis. This was too much, he was so fucking scared.

“You see,” Dennis whispered hungrily, “you have such beautiful eyes. So innocent, so trusting, so gentle.”

A tear ran down Charlie’s cheek. Dennis didn’t notice, or if he did, he didn’t react.

“I wanna fuck the innocence right out of those eyes,” Dennis hissed. “I wanna do awful, awful things to you, Charlie. And you’re gonna let me.”

“B-but what if I don’t… want that?” Charlie whimpered.

Dennis grabbed a fistful of Charlie’s hair and yanked it hard, jerking Charlie’s head back violently.

“I said,” he growled, “you’re gonna let me do whatever the fuck I want to you. Okay, baby?”

He let go of Charlie’s hair. Charlie nodded obediently, shrinking away from Dennis.

“Lie down. Now,” Dennis commanded, gesturing towards the bed.

Charlie crawled into the bed and sat cross-legged with his hands in his lap. It was cute as hell, Dennis had to admit. He kneeled down across from Charlie and rested his hands on Charlie’s shoulders. Slowly, methodically, Dennis unbuttoned Charlie’s jacket and pulled it off, setting it aside. Then he set his hands on Charlie’s thighs, leaning forward so their faces nearly touched. Dennis was practically in Charlie’s lap. He pressed his lips to Charlie’s, kissing him messily. Charlie leaned away from the kiss, falling against the headboard of the bed as Dennis pressed his tongue into his mouth. He moved his hands to Charlie’s wrists, pinning his arms up by his head.

Charlie’s breath got fast and labored. He turned his head away, breaking off Dennis’ kiss.

“Den, I… I don’t know about this.”

“I don’t care,” Dennis replied. “Because I’m gonna do a whole lot more than just kiss you.”

Dennis kissed Charlie again and again, planting wet kisses all over his face and down his neck. Charlie didn’t make any move to reciprocate, but he didn’t struggle either. Dennis decided that meant he was good to go. He reached down and unzipped Charlie’s jeans.

“Come on, help me out here,” Dennis whispered. “I need to get your goddamn pants off.”

Charlie uncrossed his legs, and Dennis backed away from him just enough to get his pants off. He grabbed onto Charlie’s waistband, pulling his pants and underwear off as quickly as he could. There was almost no resistance from Charlie, but his eyes were still wide with panic. His fear alone was getting Dennis hard.

Dennis unzipped his own pants and pulled them down to his ankles. He could feel Charlie staring, and he enjoyed it. It was nice to know that a part of Charlie, deep down, wanted him. He pulled a bottle of lube out of his nightstand, and looked down at Charlie as he poured a bit on his hand.

“I need you on your stomach,” he instructed. Charlie didn’t move.

“I’m scared, Den,” he whimpered.

“Why is that?”

“It’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt, isn’t it?”

“Well, why don’t you roll over for me and find out?” Dennis reached out his clean hand and grabbed Charlie by the shoulder, guiding him onto his side. He couldn’t quite get him all the way over yet, but Dennis was patient. Slowly, carefully, he pressed a lubed-up finger to Charlie’s hole. Charlie let out a whine as it went in.

“See? It’s not that bad is it?” Dennis worked his finger back and forth, severely enjoying the little whines and grunts Charlie was making as he did so. He sounded so cute. Without warning, Dennis inserted another finger. This earned a yelp from Charlie, who grabbed tightly onto the sheets for support. Tears fell from his eyes.

Dennis considered adding a third finger, but he figured Charlie had been through enough already. He pulled out and turned Charlie onto his back again. It was a sight to behold. Charlie’s face was bright red and wet with tears, and he was undeniably hard on top of that.

“You’re gonna take my cock now, alright?” Dennis whispered to a sobbing Charlie. “And trust me, it’ll hurt more if you fight it.”

Charlie swallowed hard, going practically limp and allowing Dennis to guide him into position. Dennis rubbed the remainder of the lube onto his cock before thrusting himself into Charlie. He didn’t hold back whatsoever-he’d been waiting too long for this, he deserved the best goddamn fuck of his life. His fingernails dig into Charlie’s shoulders, and Dennis feared he might have left marks if Charlie hadn’t still been wearing a shirt. And Charlie was good, he was so fucking good. The way he instinctively rocked back and forth as Dennis moved in and out of him, his little whimpers, everything about him was perfect.

The moment Dennis came into him, Charlie collapsed on the bed. He rolled over onto his side and half heartedly finished himself off before curling up into a ball and crying. Dennis pulled his pants back up before lying down next to Charlie.

“Awww, what’s wrong?” he asked sweetly. He put an arm around Charlie as best he could.

“I feel sick,” Charlie mumbled. “I feel sick and-and everything hurts and I wanna go home.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Dennis said.

“It is that bad!” Charlie shouted, his voice breaking. “It’s not you, I just… thought I wouldn’t ever have to feel this shit again.”

“Feel what?”

“You know! Come on, man, I told you I didn’t wanna talk about it.”

“But… you were so good for me,” Dennis said, his voice growing menacing once again. “Are you saying you wouldn’t wanna do this with me again?”

“I didn’t want to do this with you in the first place!”

“But what about yesterday? Back at the bar, when you got all worked up over me taking my shirt off. I got you to touch yourself. I got you to feel like that, I got to control you, and it was hot as hell.”

“That’s… different. I could’ve left, I-I didn’t have to do anything. But with you holding me down and all, I… I just can’t handle it.”

“This is about what happened when you were a kid, isn’t it?”

“What?” Charlie asked. He rolled out of the bed and pulled his pants back on. His face was still damp, but he seemed to have stopped crying for the most part.

“Well, I mean, isn’t it obvious?” Dennis said with a smile. “You’re still scared of the Nightman. And since even you probably aren’t stupid enough to still be afraid of the monsters on your bed at this age, I figure he’s more than that.”

“No, it’s like you said this morning. Nightman’s not real.”

“Oh, really? Because this morning, you told me he was.”

“I mean… he’s sort of real, sort of not. It doesn’t matter though.

“It matters to me,” Dennis insisted. He motioned to the empty space next to him on the bed, inviting Charlie to sit down. He did so, but he kept a little distance between him and Dennis.

“It’s really not that big a deal,” Charlie said. He held his knees to his chest and stared down at his feet, refusing to make eye contact with Dennis.

“I feel like it is,” Dennis argued. “You get so afraid when you’re with me. If it’s not me, then what is it?”

“You know. I… I kinda maybe got molested as a kid. We’ve been over this.”

“Oh, you poor baby,” Dennis whispered sweetly, putting his arm around Charlie and holding him close. “It must’ve been really bad, huh.”

“Well, it wasn’t that bad. I got through just fine. Huffed a lot of glue, though.”

“But you were so little!”

“I was like, five or six, yeah. But it’s really no big deal.”

“It sounds like a big deal. I mean, you’re still scared of that guy to this day.”

“Well, I dunno if it’s him specifically. It’s more like… I’m just scared something like that’ll happen again. That’s why I don’t like to be alone, ‘cause that’s when the Nightman can get me.”

“So Nightman is kind of like… more symbolic?”

“I mean, it’s probably not that deep. I still don’t like my uncle though.”

“Yeah, I… noticed that.” Dennis knew exactly what he was talking about. He remembered the few moments Jack Kelly had made his way into their lives, how he’d still tried to touch Charlie even all these years later, how Charlie had recoiled at that touch. The man was truly, truly awful to the point he made Dennis look like a saint.

“Can I go home now?” Charlie asked. “If I’m gone much longer Frank’s probably gonna think I’m dead or something.”

“Yeah, of course,” Dennis replied. “Just let me do one thing before you go.”

He pulled Charlie towards him and kissed him again. Charlie seemed more receptive to it this time, and he allowed Dennis to kiss him all over his face and down his neck. By the time Dennis finished, Charlie was blushing, and he had a stupid grin plastered across his face.

“You know, I’d probably be fine if you just kissed me,” he suggested. “You’re like… a really good kisser.”

“I know, baby boy,” Dennis replied with a grin.

He held Charlie’s hand as he walked him to the door, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek to say goodbye. Mac watched them. On the surface, Charlie seemed fine-he even smiled after Dennis kissed him. But Mac just couldn’t believe that Dennis hadn’t done something horrible.

The next morning, Mac snuck into Dennis’ room in hopes to find the sex tape from the previous night. After a few harrowing minutes of digging through the drawer, he found it- _Charlie Kelly, 4 stars_. Mac was actually a little surprised. Dennis was quite the harsh critic when it came to his sexual partners, so the fact that Charlie had achieved four stars was quite shocking. Shaking his head, Mac tucked the tape beneath his shirt and followed Dennis to his car.

As soon as he arrived at Paddy’s, Mac wasted no time making his way to the back office and popping the tape in. With the volume on the TV turned down almost to mute, Mac watched in horror as the scene unfolded.

“Having fun in here, Mac?”

Mac hastily paused the tape and looked up at Dennis, who had just walked in the door. Mac buried his face in his hands. He’d forgotten to lock the door.

“I see you’re watching my tapes again,” Dennis mused. “That’s Charlie’s tape, isn’t it?”

Mac nodded slowly.

“What do you think? Worthy of that four-star rating?”

“I think you’re a terrible person,” Mac said.

“Oh, I see mister morality is back,” Dennis groaned. “Get off your damn high horse, Mac. You saw him afterwards. He’s fine.”

“You don’t know that!” Mac exclaimed. He popped the tape out and shook it in Dennis’ face accusingly. “This… this is beyond your usual level of grossness. I think this is just straight-up rape.”

“Whoa, don’t just go throwing that word around.”

“I’m not! I’m not just throwing that word around, I am reasonably sure that this is rape. I could take you to court with this!”

“You could not. Why would you, anyway? There’s nothing in it for you.”

“There doesn’t have to be! You-you raped him. I told you to stay away from Charlie, I told you not to use your system on him, I told you not to hurt him, and then you go and do… this shit! He’s my friend, Dennis. And you hurt him.”

“But you’re not gonna take me to court.”

“Well, no. I can’t pay for that shit. But I’m keeping the tape.”

“Why?”

“Just… in case. In case I find some way to use it against you.”

“Come on, Mac. We’re… we’re blood brothers. Let it go.”

“I don’t care. You’re a fucking rapist. And you deserve some punishment for what you did to Charlie!”

“You’re being a baby.”

“I am not! I am not being a fucking baby, I just… I care about my friend, okay?” Mac’s voice was breaking. “Just… please stop. You’ve had your fun, you got your sex tape, just leave him alone!”

“Oh, Mac, I can’t stop now. I’m barely halfway through my system! I’m just getting started!”

“You’re a monster.”

“I’m a genius.”

Dennis strutted proudly out of the back office, leaving Mac clutching the tape and crying. He couldn’t watch this anymore. Not just the sex tape, the whole system-Charlie was getting hurt, and he was getting hurt badly. Mac had to stop it. He had to do something, anything, to keep his best friend safe. He burst out of the back office in search of Charlie.

Charlie was in one of his usual places-the basement. Once again, he seemed fine (or at least, as fine as Charlie usually was) as he stalked around in the dimly lit area, searching for rats to bash.

“Charlie!” Mac called out. “Charlie, dude, are you alright?”

“Whoa, Mac!” Charlie exclaimed, turning to look at him. “What… happened?”

“You gotta stay away from Dennis, man. He’s… he’s a fucking monster, okay? He’s gonna hurt you again.”

“Mac, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Did you really forget already?” Mac held up the tape. “Did you forget about… what he did to you last night?”

“Hey, is that my sex tape?” Charlie asked, ignoring everything else Mac was saying. “What’d I get?”

“You got raped, Charlie. You got fucking raped, and I’m worried about you. Also, you… you got four stars.”

“Uh… cool,” Charlie said. “What’s with all this rape talk though?”

“I watched the tape, dude. Dennis is using his system on you, man. He’s hurting you, and it’s just going to get worse. I’m gonna protect you from him, okay?”

“Nah, dude, it’s fine. I’m… okay. I’m gonna stay with Dennis. He’s a great kisser, you know.”

“Well, yeah, he’s a great kisser, we’ve all kissed him, but it’s just not worth it man! He’s about to move onto step four.”

“Step four?”

“Neglect Emotionally. Dude, I don’t know what he’s gonna do, but… I just don’t want you to get hurt, okay?”

“Mac, come on, it’ll be fine.”

“No,” Mac said, shaking his head. “No, it won’t.”

“You’re being dramatic, man. I’m not a little kid anymore. I can take it.”

“Fine,” Mac said. “Just… be careful, okay? I care about you, man.”

“Thanks, dude. Don’t worry about me, alright?”

“Okay. Okay,” Mac agreed halfheartedly. He cast a worried glance at Charlie as he walked back up the stairs. There was absolutely no way he couldn’t worry about Charlie. The guy was fragile and stupid, and Mac knew damn well that Dennis would exploit that beyond belief. He’d already hurt Charlie enough, and Mac was absolutely terrified of what the next phase of the system would bring.


	4. N-Neglect Emotionally

Dennis hovered over Charlie throughout the next few days, kissing him when no one else was watching and even sneaking a hand into his back pocket every once in a while. He didn’t get to fuck Charlie again, considering Mac would never have let the two of them go back into Dennis’ room alone and Dennis would never willingly spend more than a minute in Charlie’s disgusting apartment. That didn’t stop Dennis from having his fantasies, though-the moment he got the chance he swore he was going to take Charlie into the back office, lock the door, and go to town on him.

But that opportunity never came. Mac hovered over Charlie constantly, his ever-watchful protector against the evils of Dennis Reynolds. And when Charlie wasn’t with Mac, he was at home with Frank. Dennis was getting frustrated. He needed to do something drastic. It was time to move into the next stage.

But first, he had to get rid of Mac.

Dennis sat down at the bar across from Mac, who was busy washing dishes. Charlie hung around in a corner, probably doing some kind of Charlie work.

“So, Mac,” Dennis said. “You find yourself a boyfriend yet?”

“Uh… no,” Mac replied.

“You want one?”

“Are you asking me out?” Mac’s eyes lit up.

“No, idiot, I’m asking if you wanna go to a gay bar with me.”

“Dennis, when have you ever gone to a gay bar?”

“I’ve dabbled,” Dennis replied. “And besides, I think it’ll be good for both of us. I need to get away from Charlie, you’re pathetic and lonely, let’s go look at some dudes!”

“Let’s look at some dudes!” Mac agreed. The two of them walked out to Dennis’ car, leaving Charlie to do whatever the fuck he was doing in the corner.

“So… we’re going to the Rainbow, right?” Dennis asked.

“I mean, I don’t know of any other gay bars around here,” Mac replied.

“There aren’t any other gay bars in South Philly?”

“Not that I’ve heard of.”

“Dude, you really have not immersed yourself in the culture.”

“Man, I was busy repressing my sexuality for thirty years, you can’t expect me to have found every gay bar in the city.”

“Alright, I guess that’s fair.”

“How exactly do I like… do a gay bar?” Mac asked.

“Well, Mac, it’s just like a straight bar. Find someone you like, buy him a drink, it all just kind of falls into place from there.”

“Okay, okay, I can do that.”

“Yes, dude! I believe in you. Get yourself some big hunk to satisfy you, and-”

“Well, see, I feel like I’d be the big hunk in this scenario.”

“Sure, dude, just have fun.”

The two of them walked into the bar and were immediately confronted by bright lights and pulsing music. It wasn’t quite overwhelming, but both of them were flooded with a kind of nervous energy.

“Hey there, cutie.”

Dennis turned towards the voice. A man who looked like a blonde version of Mac was staring intently at him.

“Oh, uh, hey there,” Dennis replied. This was not the plan. The plan was for Mac to get picked up by some guy so Dennis could go back to Paddy’s and move onto the next phase of his system. Having some hunk hanging off his shoulder was not helping with that.

“Let me buy you a drink,” the man offered. Dennis allowed himself to be dragged up to the bar, leaving Mac standing somewhat baffled in the doorway.

“Look, man, I hate to burst your bubble,” Dennis said as he and the other man sat down at the bar, “but I’m… not really looking for someone here.”

“God, don’t tell me you’re straight.”

“No, no, I have a boyfriend. I’m just here trying to find someone for my friend. You know, he just came out recently, it’s been kind of a confusing time for him, I figured he could use a little meeting and greeting.”

“Aw, you seem like a good guy. Tell you what-you go ahead and head out if you want. I think I know a guy who’d be perfect for that friend of yours.”

“Really? You’d do that?”

“‘Course, dude. You just go back to your boyfriend, alright? I figure he’s lucky to have you.”

“Yeah, I… guess he is.”

Dennis stood up from the bar and made his way to the door, being careful to avoid Mac. Shit, he’d just called Charlie his boyfriend. That was weird. He’d never referred to one of his partners as a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. Dennis hadn’t had something resembling one of those since high school. Charlie couldn’t be his boyfriend. “Boyfriend” meant commitment; it meant… real love. Dennis didn’t do real love.

He did emotional neglect and psychological torture.

“Hey, Frank!” Dennis called as he walked into Paddy’s.

“What now?” Frank demanded.

“Have you, by any chance, done anything illegal lately?”

“‘Course I have. Why, you want in?”

“Well, no, not today. I need to come to your legal aid.”

“Dennis, you’re not a lawyer.”

“No, but I have a lawyer on hand.”

“Who?”

“Charlie’s uncle. Jack Kelly.”

“Why the hell do you wanna work with him? Isn’t he a diddler?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s all part of the plan,” Dennis explained. “Just… what’s the least horrendous crime you’ve committed recently?”

“I shoplifted a case of eggs from that convenience store.”

“Why the hell would you… you know what, I don’t care. I’ll find a shitty lawyer to represent the convenience store, and then I’ll call Jack Kelly for you.”

“Why can’t you just have him represent the store?”

“Well, I mean, he’s just a diddler. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad lawyer.”

“Alright, fine. Get him in here.”

Dennis smiled, pulling out his phone and placing a call to Jack Kelly.

Charlie emerged from the basement about an hour later to find Dennis holding his mock trial in the bar. A lawyer Charlie didn’t recognize and a very confused-looking convenience store clerk sat at a table on the left, and Frank and his uncle sat at a table on the right. Dennis stood in the middle, seemingly having appointed himself as the judge in this situation.

“Dennis?” Charlie asked. “What… what’s going on?”

“Oh, we’re holding a trial for Frank,” Dennis explained. “He stole a case of eggs from a convenience store.”

“Look, it’s a case of eggs,” the convenience store clerk piped up. “I’d like him to pay for it, but I don’t think this trial is necessary.”

“Well, I ain’t paying for it!” Frank shot back. “I’m takin’ you to court so I don’t gotta.”

“This isn’t a real court room!” the clerk replied. “And besides, aren’t you paying more for these lawyers than you would for a case of eggs?”

“I’m doing it for free,” Jack interjected. He looked over at Charlie with those same creepy eyes he always seemed to have when Charlie was in the room.

“Uh… okay,” Charlie replied. “I’m gonna go back to the basement now-”

“Oh, no, don’t do that,” Dennis smiled. “Come on, you can help Jack and Frank. You know about shoplifting, right?” Dennis pulled up another chair to the table, purposely setting it next to Jack Kelly.

“No, I’m not doing that,” Charlie argued. “I’m… really only experienced in bird law.”

“Come on, Charlie,” Dennis insisted, taking Charlie by the hand and guiding him into the new empty seat. “It’ll be fun!”

“No, I-I don’t think it will,” Charlie replied, still allowing Dennis to guide him into the chair.

“Oh, it will, don’t worry,” Dennis replied, unable to hide his menacing smile. “Now, where were we?”

Dennis continued mediating the trial (most of what he was saying was bullshit, but the lawyers were putting up with it. Presumably Frank was paying the other lawyer a shitload of money, and Jack seemed to be getting his own form of… payment. Dennis felt just a twinge of shame as he watched Jack and Charlie: Jack’s hands were hidden under the table, and based on Charlie’s expression, Dennis figured he knew exactly what was happening. For a minute, Dennis thought that just maybe he’d gone too far. Slashing someone’s tires, pretending to be an angry neighbor, that was all fine. It wasn’t real. But this was real. He’d literally called up Charlie’s abuser and allowed him to have his way with Charlie.

After an excruciating few minutes of sweating and staring at the floor, Charlie finally spoke up.

“Dennis, I… I need to go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“The basement. I left this huge-ass rat in one of the traps, and he’s gonna start chewing through shit if I don’t bash him up soon.”

“Oh. Okay, go fix your rat problem. But come right back, okay?”

Charlie hastily stood up from the table and ran downstairs.

“Hey, Dennis,” Jack said slyly the moment Charlie was out of the room. “Thanks for this.”

“What?” Dennis asked.

“I just never get to see Charlie anymore,” he explained. “It’s nice to be able to… hang out with him again.”

“You know what? Fuck you,” Dennis decided. “You’re a pervert. Get out of my bar.”

“Shut up, Dennis,” Frank warned. “I think we were getting somewhere.”

“We’re not getting anywhere, Frank. That dude’s right, this-this isn’t a real trial. This was a setup to get Charlie and his uncle in the same room.”

“Exactly,” Jack chimed in. “And thank you for that, Dennis, it’s much appreciated.”

“Shut up!” Dennis snapped at him. “Shut your stupid fucking diddler mouth, Jack Kelly. You’re a terrible person. Get out.”

“Speak for yourself,” Jack retorted. He stormed angrily out of the bar, leaving Dennis and Frank to settle whatever this was on their own.

“Dennis, you’re a goddamn hypocrite,” Frank accused.

“What? _What?_ Frank, I do not diddle kids!”

“Well, I dunno if I’d call it diddling, but you did something to Charlie.”

“No, I’d never! How could you accuse me of something like that.”

“I live with the kid. He came back from your house the other night a goddamn wreck. Didn’t even wanna talk about it with ol’ Frankie. This kid tells me about it when he takes a shit, Dennis. If he doesn’t wanna talk about what you did, it must’ve been pretty bad.”

“Or maybe,” Dennis argued, “maybe he just doesn’t wanna admit to having gay sex!”

“I’m sorry, can we go now?” the convenience store clerk asked.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re done here,” Dennis replied, waving him and his lawyer out. This left him with Frank.

“You banged him?” Frank asked, not sounding nearly as shocked as Dennis would’ve thought he’d be.

“Yes! Yes, I banged him, and then he got all nervous about it ‘cause he’s ‘not gay’ or whatever. That’s all that happened.”

“Alright, alright,” Frank said, still sounding a bit skeptical. “You use protection?”

“Frank, you know damn well none of us use protection if we can manage it.”

“Damn straight,” Frank replied. He reached under the bar and grabbed himself a beer. Dennis sat down on one of the tables and watched him drink for a while before something dawned on him.

“Hey, you think we should check on Charlie? He’s been in the basement an awfully long time.”

“The kid’s incompetent,” Frank replied. “He’s probably still trying to bash up that rat.”

“Whatever. I’m gonna check on him,” Dennis said. He stood up from the table and walked downstairs to the basement.

He’d barely made it past the landing of the stairwell when he caught sight of the terrible scene laid out before him. Charlie was sitting in the middle of the basement floor, spray cans strewn around him and one of Frank’s guns in his hand. Dennis couldn’t quite make it out from where he stood, but he was willing to bet Charlie’s face and shirt were covered in spray paint.

“Charlie!” he shouted, rushing down the stairs toward his friend. “Charlie, what the fuck are you doing?”

“H-hey, Dennis,” Charlie said, his voice a shaky laugh. “How’s it goin’, man?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Dennis exclaimed. “Just tell me what the fuck is going on here!”

“Oh man, I just did a ton of spray paint,” Charlie slurred. “Now I just gotta get this thing loaded, and then I’m gonna blow my fucking brains out.” He pointed the gun to his head for emphasis.

“Dude, no! No! What… why do you wanna blow your brains out?”

“Because Mac was right, Den. You’re using me. Uncle Jack’s using me. Everyone’s gonna keep using me until they all suck me dry, and I want out!” Charlie struggled to load the gun. His shaking hands combined with his general stupidity were keeping him from doing so. Thank god for that.

“I’m not using you, man,” Dennis argued. I’m just… I really like you. And I don’t really know how to… how to handle that.”

“Bullshit, man! You’re bullshitting me, just like with everyone you use your stupid system on! You don’t like me, you’re not working through all these complicated feelings, you just wanna use me up and then throw me in the trash, just like you do with everyone. I want out!”

“I don’t know that killing yourself is really the answer here.”

“God, you sound like an after-school PSA. It’s absolutely the answer! And I should’ve done it years ago, I should’ve offed myself back when I was a kid and my uncle was molesting me every fucking day. Do you know how that feels, Dennis? Do you know how it feels to have someone inside you, and to scream and cry and struggle and just be completely fucking powerless against it? Do you know how it feels to have to live through that every fucking night of your life? Do you know how it feels to think you’re done with that forever, only to have your best friend do the same thing to you?”

“Charlie, I had no idea, I thought you wanted that.”

“Oh, yeah, I totally wanted to relive the worst part of my childhood with my best friend.”

“Dude, I had no idea. I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“Really? Why do you think I’ve been huffing glue since kindergarten, dipshit?” Charlie finally managed to click the cartridge into the gun. He smiled vacantly at it and lifted it with shaking hands to his head.

“Charlie, put the gun down.”

“Fuck you, Dennis.”

Charlie squeezed his eyes shut in preparation for the pain, the gun shaking in his hand. Dennis lunged towards him in an attempt to knock the gun out of his hand, but he couldn’t quite make it. The gun went off with a loud bang.

Dennis opened his eyes. He hadn’t realised he’d closed them-an instinct, he figured. The noise must have set him off. He found himself on top of Charlie, the gun having been thrown against the wall. To his relief, Dennis felt Charlie’s heart beating beneath his chest. Blood trickled down Charlie’s forehead, but it seemed the bullet had only grazed him. He’d gotten very, very lucky.

“Charlie, buddy,” Dennis whispered, gently wiping the blood off Charlie’s forehead. “You okay?”

“No,” Charlie grumbled. “ _Fuck,_ that hurts.”

“I’m taking you to a hospital, dude.”

“No, don’t do that. If I’m gonna die, just let me bleed out here. You can keep laying on top of me if you want though.”

“You’re not gonna die. The bullet just like, barely hit you.”

“Just like when you shot me,” Charlie laughed. “We both got terrible aim, huh.”

“Fuck, you’re right,” Dennis exclaimed, remembering the time he’d shot Charlie, thinking he was a robber. “You know, maybe Mac’s onto something with the whole god thing. I mean, you’ve survived getting shot in the head twice.”

“Screw god,” Charlie said. “I’m just bad at dying.”

“Well okay, maybe you’re not gonna die. But you still need to go to the hospital.”

“No hospital.”

“Yeah, dude, hospital. You just got shot.”

“I’m just saying we should let whatever happens happen. Maybe I’ll die, maybe I won’t.”

“Nothing’s going to happen, because we’re going to the hospital to get you fixed up,” Dennis insisted. He rolled off of Charlie and stood up, grabbing his friend by the hand and attempting to pull him up.

“Come on, Den,” Charlie whined, looking up at him with sad, pleading eyes. “Just go. Just let me die.” Dennis’ stomach wrenched. Charlie looked really bad, both from the gunshot wound and the deep hurt in his gaze.

“I’m not leaving you here. First of all, that hole in your head is gonna get infected if you don’t do something about it, which I know you won’t on your own. Also, I can’t be sure that you’re not gonna pick up that gun and shoot yourself again the moment I walk out of here.”

“Why would you care if I did?”

“God dammit, Charlie, why wouldn’t I care? I don’t want you to die, man. I love you.” Dennis meant that. He wasn’t exactly sure what kind of love it was, but he knew he loved Charlie. Somewhere in the deep empty void that was his heart, he felt real, honest-to-god love for that little rat boy.

“Do you really love me? Like, really? Or do you just wanna fuck me again?” Charlie asked.

“It’s… some of both, honestly. But we’re not talking about me, okay? Get up!”

Charlie stumbled to his feet. His head spun, probably from a combination of the blood loss and the spray paint. He was a mess. He practically fell into Dennis, leaning into him as the two walked up the basement stairs. Dennis felt awful. If only he’d fucking listened to Mac in the first place, if only he wasn’t so focused on his stupid system that he nearly drove his friend to suicide.

Mac barged into the bar the moment Dennis and Charlie emerged from the basement.

“Dennis,” Mac growled. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, motherfucker.”

“Frank called me,” Dennis replied. “Needed legal help. Sorry I didn’t tell you before I left.”

Dennis thanked his lucky stars that Frank didn’t argue with this explanation.

“Then what the fuck happened to Charlie?”

“Oh… well… that’s unrelated to me. He shot himself in the head.”

“He did _what?_ ”

“It’s nothing. He was all hopped up on spray paint, playing around with guns, something was bound to happen. I’m taking him to the hospital to get his head checked out.”

“I’m coming with you,” Mac insisted. He was not about to let Dennis be alone with Charlie again, he’d already fallen for that once today.

The car ride was unsettlingly quiet. Mac and Charlie both sat in the back, with Charlie resting his head on Mac’s shoulder. No one said a thing-Mac was presumably still angry at Dennis, and Dennis and Charlie were so shaken up by what just happened they didn’t want to try and speak.

This unspoken vow of silence continued while Mac and Dennis sat in the waiting room as Charlie was in some hospital bed getting his head fixed. Mac at least pulled out his phone and started looking at something, but Dennis couldn’t even do that. The events of that day were really starting to sink in, and he hated himself. It really was all his fault. He’d let Charlie’s uncle touch him again, he’d orchestrated the whole chain of events that lead Charlie to try and kill himself. That part was still kind of hard to believe: it was Charlie, after all. He seemed almost incapable of doing something like that, and yet here he was, in a hospital, being treated for a gunshot to the head that would have killed him if Dennis hadn’t tackled him.

The situation was oddly poetic in that way. Sure, Dennis had driven Charlie to killing himself, but he’d also saved him.

At long last, he and Mac were invited back into Charlie’s room. Charlie actually looked okay other than the bandage around his head, but Dennis knew something still must have been very, very wrong with him. You don’t just try and kill yourself and then magically get healed with a few bandages.

“Hey, buddy,” Mac said, putting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “How’s it going?”

“Mac,” Charlie said, meeting his eyes. “There’s something you gotta know.”

“What is it?”

“Dennis lied to you, man. This wasn’t an accident.”

“What!” Mac exclaimed. He turned on his heels and practically rushed at Dennis, grabbing him by his shoulders and slamming him against the wall of the hospital room. “You shot him! You fucking asshole, you shot him! This is all part of your system, isn’t it. You shot him, and now you’re gonna nurse him back to health. I see what you’re doing. You’re-”

“Mac, stop it,” Charlie said. “Dennis didn’t do anything.”

“How?” Mac asked.

“I… I tried to kill myself.”

“You… no, man, you didn’t do that.”

“Yeah, I did. They’re sending me to a psych ward once my head gets better.”

“Why the hell are they doing that?” Dennis interjected.

“‘Cause that’s what happens when people shoot themselves in the head, I guess.”

“Back up, back up,” Mac said. “Charlie, you really tried to kill yourself?”

Charlie nodded. He looked away from Mac and Dennis, seemingly ashamed of what he’d done.

“Why?” Mac asked, his eyes going all big and sad.

“I… I wanted everything to stop.”

“Everything?”

“Look, Uncle Jack came to the bar. Dennis made me sit next to him so we could prevent Frank from getting sued or something, and-and he touched me again.”

“You let that happen?” Mac shouted at Dennis.

“I’m sorry!” Dennis exclaimed. “I’m so fucking sorry, I didn’t know Charlie was gonna kill himself!”

“It wasn’t just Dennis,” Charlie said. “Him… fucking me definitely didn’t help, but I’ve been living with this shit for years, man. I think it just kinda pushed me over the edge.”

Mac nodded solemnly. He thought back to when he and Charlie were just kids, and Charlie would come to school with dark circles under his eyes and he wouldn’t talk all day, and Mac would know something happened to him the night before. He remembered Charlie going to huff glue or bleach in the school bathroom just to get his brain to shut up. He remembered Charlie fleeing to his house during family gatherings to avoid his uncle. Charlie had a lot of hurt inside of him, and it had just now boiled over into… this.

“How long are you going to be… at the psych ward?” Mac asked.

“Probably like a week,” Charlie replied. “Depends on when they think I’m ready to go, I guess.”

“Fuck, dude. I’m gonna miss you.” Mac took Charlie’s hand and held it close. Dennis moved in to comfort him as well, but Mac held up a hand. He didn’t blame him. This was all his fault, after all, and any sane person would want to keep him far, far away from Charlie.

Mac and Dennis wound up leaving Charlie’s hospital room a little while later. There was really no point in staying with him-he didn’t seem in the mood for conversation, and they wouldn’t be able to accompany him to the psych ward.

The following week was the longest week of their lives. Dee and Frank ended up finding out where Charlie was, but they all silently agreed not to talk about it. No one wanted to acknowledge it anyway. They’d all been to the hospital before, but this was different. This was more real somehow.

No one was expecting it when Charlie returned to Paddy’s exactly eight days later.

His eyes were dark and sunken, his hair was even more of a mess than usual, and his hands were shaking. He still had a band-aid on his forehead where the bullet had grazed his face.

He walked silently towards the rest of the gang, who were seated at the bar and watching him in horror. It occurred to them briefly how weird it was that he could’ve gotten home by himself-he didn’t have a car, and he didn’t have money for bus fare either.

Charlie sat down on a bar stool next to Dennis. The gang stared at him, waiting for him to speak.

“That… was the worst,” he whispered.

“Dude, how’d you get home?” Mac asked.

“I called my mom. Now she knows I was in the looney bin, by the way, so thanks for that.”

“You could’ve called one of us.”

“I… yeah, I could’ve.”

“But you’re okay now, right?”

“No,” Charlie said, smiling wryly. “I was trapped in crazy people jail, and I haven’t had alcohol or glue in a week. How do you think I feel?”

“God dammit, someone get this man a beer!” Dennis exclaimed. Mac reached under the bar, grabbed a beer, and handed it to Charlie. Charlie took it, but didn’t make any move to open it.

“They fucked you up pretty bad in there, huh,” Dennis said softly. He put a hand on Charlie’s thigh. Charlie didn’t fight it-rather, he put his hand on top of Dennis’ and laced their fingers together.

“I missed you, man,” Charlie mumbled, leaning into Dennis’ chest. Dennis put his other arm around him, smiling as he did so.

This was perfect. Charlie was all fucked up and broken from both his suicide attempt and his stay in the hospital, and he needed someone to nurse him back to health. Dennis planted a soft kiss on Charlie’s forehead, right over the band-aid that covered his bullet wound. Mac glared at him, and Dee and Frank gave him a confused look, but he didn’t care. He had his Charlie back, and he was ready to inspire some much needed hope in him.


	5. I-Inspire Hope

Charlie didn’t say much the rest of the day. He hid away in the bathroom, cleaning (or more likely pretending to clean). Dennis came in to check on him that afternoon and found him sitting on the dirty tile floor, holding a bottle of bleach in his lap. He looked completely out of it.

“Dude, are you okay?” Dennis asked.

“Hm?” Charlie mumbled. He turned to Dennis, eyes glazed over.

“Are you huffing bleach fumes?”

“Yeah, man. This is the good stuff. Industrial strength. It just melts your fucking brain cells.”

“That’s a bad thing.”

“Oh, no it’s not,” Charlie replied. He held the bottle under his nose and inhaled deeply. “I can barely feel anything.”

“What did the even do to you at that psych hospital, man? ‘Cause if anything, you seem worse.”

“They asked a lot of questions. Like, a fuckton. Then they said a lot of medical shit that I didn’t really understand, but apparently I’ve got that thing soldiers have or whatever.”

“PTSD?”

“Yeah, yeah, that. I got meds, but I didn’t take ‘em. I’m not taking that chance.”

“That chance?”

“I mean, they could’ve just been drugging me so they could do stuff to me.”

“You… thought they were trying to roofie you?”

“They could’ve been!”

“You should’ve taken those meds, dude. They’d probably work a lot better than sniffing bleach.”

“Shut up, dude. You don’t take your meds for your thing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know. When you went to get meds for Psycho Pete and they figured out that you were the psycho all along?”

“Alright, no one said I was psycho. That psychiatrist thought I was like, borderline or something, which frankly I didn’t agree with. But even if I was, I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count as psycho.”

“Whatever, dude, don’t get technical. I just got, like… the soldier thing. I’m fine.”

“Charlie, the ‘soldier thing’ is a debilitating mental disorder.”

“Well, I’m not debilitated, so you don’t need to worry about anything.”

“You tried to kill yourself.”

“Whatever.”

“Hey, buddy, look at me.”

Charlie stared at him intently, pouting just a little bit. Dennis couldn’t tear his eyes away from the band-aid on his forehead. It wasn’t big or obvious or anything, it was just a band-aid. If you walked past someone on the street wearing a band-aid like that you’d probably think nothing of it. But Dennis couldn’t shake the thought that underneath that unassuming band-aid was a wound that could very well have killed his friend had the gun not been jerked away at the last second. One second was all the difference between their current situation and a situation in which Charlie had died a week before.

“How do you feel? Be honest.”

Charlie glanced down at the bottle of bleach in his lap and put a hand to his forehead, cautiously running his finger against the band-aid.

“I don’t know,” he replied sadly. “I just wish… I wish a lot of things. I wish I’d never had to share a room with my uncle as a kid. I wish I hadn’t trusted you and let you do all those things. And maybe I wish, like maybe a little bit, that you hadn’t been there to stop me when I tried to blow my brains out.”

“You still wanna kill yourself?”

“Not really. I just kinda wanna not be alive and not have to deal with life ever again.”

Dennis looked at Charlie pityingly. His system had gone too far, he knew that, but there was no taking it back now. Charlie was already broken.

“Look, do you maybe wanna come over tonight?” Dennis asked. “It’s okay if you wanna say no, I understand, after everything I did to you I’d probably say no if I was in your position, but I want another chance. I wanna help you. For real this time. I promise I won’t do anything, I won’t even touch you if you don’t want me to, Mac can be there the whole time if that’s what it’ll take to make you feel safe. But just… please give me another chance, okay?”

“You know what? Okay,” Charlie agreed. “Why not, right? As long as Mac is in the room the whole time, I think it’ll be good.”

“Thanks,” Dennis replied. He smiled sweetly at Charlie, appreciating for a moment the adorable mess that he’d become. It was sad, of course of it was sad, but he also looked kind of cute sitting there with his head bandaged up, his eyes all big and sad, and a bottle of bleach in his lap.

Charlie set the bleach aside and stood up.

“Can I hug you, man?” he asked.

“Of course,” Dennis replied. “Of course you can hug me.”

Charlie leapt on Dennis, holding him and squeezing him tightly. Dennis wrapped his arms around him in response, rubbing his back gently. Before he knew it, Charlie was pressing his lips to his face, demanding a kiss. Dennis smiled as he reciprocated. Charlie’s mouth tasted ever so slightly of bleach. _Has he been drinking it?_ Dennis thought, somewhat horrified. Of course, Charlie drinking bleach wouldn’t have been a new phenomenon, but it was still somewhat terrifying considering how little regard Charlie currently had for his own wellbeing. Dennis cautiously pressed his tongue into Charlie’s mouth only to be confronted by the flavor of bleach, along with something he didn’t recognize but was probably another noxious substance (paint?). He pushed Charlie away, breaking off the kiss.

“Have you been drinking bleach?” he exclaimed. 

“Bleach is good to drink,” Charlie muttered.

“Don’t drink bleach, man.”

“I only drank a little. And-and some paint thinner. But I’m fine!”

“Charlie, come on, you can’t do that.”

“Yeah I can! You can’t stop me!”

“Well, I can’t, but… can you please stop? You’re scaring me, man.”

“It’s not like I’m trying to kill myself. I just wanna drink bleach and shit!”

“Why is it so hard for you to understand that you should not drink bleach? Or paint thinner? Is there anything else you’ve been drinking that I should know about?”

“Just like, beer.”

“How much?”

“A… normal amount.”

“For a sane person or for you?”

“I’ve only had like, three, okay?”

“It’s like one in the afternoon. You probably shouldn’t be drinking at all, honestly.”

“Hey, man, I know you’re trying to be caring and all, but I’m done being bossed around.”

“Fine. I’m sorry. I’m just… worried about you. You nearly died last week. I don’t wanna risk anything.”

“I won’t drink any more bleach if you kiss me again.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Dennis sighed. He smiled softly and grabbed Charlie by the shoulders, pulling him in close. Charlie wrapped his arms around him, holding on as if for dear life. Dennis pressed his lips to Charlie’s, soft and gentle and sweet. A small part of him wanted to pin Charlie against a wall and just destroy him, but they were in a bathroom after all, and the walls were disgusting. Besides, Charlie was fragile. The time for destroying him would come, of course, but he needed at least a few days to heal. Dennis wasn’t a monster, after all.

“Den, come on,” Charlie muttered, leaning away from Dennis’ lips just long enough to get a few words in. “More.”

“Oh, baby, do you really want that?”

“I need it. Come on. Like, put your tongue in my mouth and stuff.”

“Really?” Dennis whispered. He ran a hand through Charlie’s hair. Being gentle was getting tiring, and he really did want to be harsher with Charlie, but he also didn’t want to ruin him again.

“Yeah, dude. Come on. Do it.” Charlie didn’t even give Dennis a chance to reply before kissing him aggressively. Dennis had no choice but to reciprocate, pushing his tongue into Charlie’s mouth. Charlie moaned in response, and Dennis felt his heart flutter. He actually wanted to satisfy Charlie, which felt a little weird, but Dennis was into it.

Dennis nipped at Charlie’s bottom lip gently, testing the waters. He didn’t want to hurt Charlie too badly, but if he wanted more, Dennis was willing to give him more. 

“Yeah,” Charlie moaned into Dennis’ mouth. Dennis pulled away for a second, leaning his forehead against Charie’s and staring directly into his eyes.

“I don’t wanna hurt you, baby boy,” he whispered.

“I don’t care if you hurt me,” Charlie replied.

“Why?”

“‘Cause it’s okay now, I guess. I don’t care if I get hurt anymore.”

“That’s a little messed up.”

“Sorry.”

“No, no, I like it. I’m into it.” Dennis traced his hand down Charlie’s face and gently caressed his neck. He kissed Charlie all over his neck, pulling the collar of his shirt down to expose more skin. Slowly, cautiously, Dennis increased his pace, getting rougher and messier as he moved across Charlie’s chest.

Suddenly he bit down hard just above Charlie’s collarbone, pressing his soft skin tightly between his teeth. Charlie let out a yelp, digging his fingernails into Dennis’ side in surprise. Dennis held on for a solid minute, sinking his teeth deep into Charlie’s flesh. For a moment he wondered how sanitary this was, considering Charlie’s constant state of uncleanliness, but Charlie wasn’t actually that gross for once. Perhaps they had bathed him at the hospital?

Dennis let go when he tasted blood. He stared at the wound on Charlie’s neck with pride-it was swollen and red, and tiny drops of blood had begun to emerge from the bite marks. Charlie was still holding onto him tightly, presumably still in pain.

“Holy shit,” Charlie whispered.

“Good?” Dennis asked.

“Yeah. Good,” Charlie replied. He let go of Dennis with one hand and reached up to touch the wound on his neck. His eyes went wide when he pulled it away.

“You made me bleed,” he said, quiet but still brimming with excitement.

“I know,” Dennis said with a smile.

“Kiss me again.”

Dennis wanted to, he really did, but something about the situation worried him. Charlie had never been so eager, so desperate, so borderline masochistic before, and it was starting to get weird.

“What’s gotten into you, man?” Dennis asked.

“I got all messed up,” Charlie said, a twisted grin on his face. “I wanna hurt. I wanna _feel_ shit, man.”

“Since when? Where is this coming from?”

“Doesn’t matter. I just want it. Bite me again, scratch me, do something!”

“Charlie, this is freaking me out. You’re not like this.”

“I am now. I figured you’d like it, anyway. You like hurting people, don’t you Dennis? Now I’m asking you to hurt me. What’s wrong with that?”

Dennis stared into Charlie’s eyes. They had a sort of wild look to them that they hadn’t before, and that sweet, innocent glint was entirely absent now. The rings around those eyes were so dark and thick that they put the ones on Dennis’ own face to shame. Charlie usually looked somewhat unhinged, but now he looked completely insane.

“Something happened to you at that psych ward,” Dennis said firmly. “I don’t know what, but… something changed.”

“Nothing’s changed,” Charlie insisted. “I’m still just Charlie, same as always, I just got an extra hole in my head now. And I got PTSD, but I think I already had that.”

“No, you definitely already had that. I’m just saying it feels like something must’ve happened to you in there. I mean, you’ve gone from being scared that me fucking you is going to hurt to begging me to bite you.”

“First of all, that was _different_ , because technically it was rape and it hurt emotionally as well as physically. But that doesn’t mean something happened to me. Maybe I’m just maturing! Maybe I just wanna get hurt now, okay?”

“But… why?”

“I dunno! I just do!”

“Charlie, you need to tell me what you did in the hospital. When you couldn’t drink or huff glue… how’d you get through that? What did you do instead?”

“Instead? I didn’t do anything instead.”

Dennis was getting frustrated. He knew the answer, he knew what had happened to Charlie, he just wanted him to fucking spit it out already.

“I need you to take your jacket off,” he demanded.

“Why?” Charlie asked. “You gonna fuck me? ‘Cause I don't wanna do that in a bathroom.”

“No, idiot, I’m not gonna fuck you. Just take it off. Let me see.”

“No!”

Dennis grabbed onto Charlie and reached for the top button of his jacket.

“It’s coming off whether you like it or not. So you can either help me, or I’ll have to do it myself. Okay?”

“You really can’t resist pinning me down and forcing me to do things I don’t wanna do, huh.”

“Shut up! Just take it off or I’ll rip it off!”

“Okay, okay, calm down.” Charlie reaches under Dennis’ arms and started undoing the buttons of his jacket. Dennis guided his hands as he did so, growing impatient. As sick as it was, he was excited to see what was underneath Charlie’s jacket.

The arms came last, and they earned the most resistance from Charlie. He looked at Dennis with pleading eyes, a similar gaze to the one he’d so often used in Dennis’ presence before, but this time more vacant, as if he already knew he had lost.

Charlie’s arms were a mess. Long red lines ran all the way up and down the undersides of his forearms, torn into his flesh as if by claws. A few stray cuts were scattered here and there as well, but Charlie must have either given up on that method of self-harm or had his cutting implement taken away, since the scratches were newer and far more plentiful.

“I just wanted to feel something else, okay?” he said defensively. “Glue withdrawal is brutal, man. Hurting made it better.”

“I know. But… I just never would’ve expected that from you. You just never seemed capable of something like that.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I already do a whole lot of awful things, why not scratch my arms ‘till I bleed?”

“Because that’s… that’s dark stuff, I guess. Like, any idiot can huff glue or drink alcohol or do whatever other substances you’re abusing. You gotta be, like, really fucking tortured to hurt yourself for real. Like… are those cuts?” Dennis brushed his hand over a few of the deeper-looking wounds. They were definitely old, but they still looked painful.

“I broke some glass. Cut myself with the pieces. Was going great ‘till they made me put on a hospital gown, and then they found the glass and the cuts and I got locked in my room for a while. I had to switch to my fingernails after that.”

“Why? Why did you that?”

“I told you, dude. Glue withdrawal sucks ass.”

“God, you really are tortured.” Dennis took Charlie’s hands in his own, turning them over so he could see the scratches in full detail. Charlie flinched away, but Dennis didn’t let go. He kissed Charlie gently on his scraped-up wrist, licking slowly up the ugly red lines. That hungry look was ever-present in his eyes as he looked up at Charlie.

“Of course you find this hot,” Charlie gumbled. He pulled his arm away from Dennis’ mouth, snatching his jacket off the bathroom floor and hastily pulling it back on. Dennis allowed him to do so, holding the image of Charlie’s mangled arms in his mind. It _was_ hot, he wasn’t going to deny that. Charlie had been a lovely tortured mess from the moment Dennis first met him, and now he was absolutely irreparable. Yeah, Dennis probably caused most of that, but no matter how he’d gotten that way, Charlie was a severely broken. And, as gross as it may have been, Dennis had a major boner for people as traumatised and broken as Charlie now was.

“Baby, of course I find it hot. You’re so… vulnerable.”

“Okay, you’re gross!” Charlie exclaimed. “You know, maybe I was wrong. It’s not that you like hurting people, you just like… ruining people! You like ruining people and you like seeing them ruined.” It was half-gibberish, but Dennis felt it. Charlie got it; some part of his weird little brain understood the real appeal of the DENNIS system. It wasn’t about sex, it wasn’t about seduction, it was about controlling someone, and then completely and utterly destroying them. That was what got Dennis off.

“I’m sorry,” Dennis whispered. “You know we both have our issues, right? You’re all tortured and traumatised, and I like watching people suffer. It seems to me like a good match.”

“No! No, we are not a good match! You’re manipulating me again, and you know what I think? I think if I come over tonight, you’re gonna rape me again. Because that’s what you do.”

“Charlie, Charlie, shhh. I promise I’m not going to hurt you again. I told you, Mac can stay in the room the whole time. You’re safe.” Dennis softly caressed Charlie’s face, but Charlie slapped his hand away.

“I. Am not. Safe.”

Dennis backed away, but he didn’t leave the bathroom yet. He wanted his second chance with Charlie, he deserved that second chance. Charlie was supposed to be his now, he was broken and traumatised and hell, he wanted to be hurt! Everything seemed to be falling into place, but Charlie just had to suddenly become aware of Dennis’ true motivations.

“Charlie, baby, you’re safe. I promise, okay?”

“Stop calling me baby! It’s weird and gross and I-I don’t like it!”

“Okay. I’ll stop. Just… please give me another chance.”

“You know what? Okay. If you want me to come over tonight, I will. As long as Mac is in the room the whole time. No tricks, no surprises, no taking me into the bathroom and jerking me off, just… dinner and a movie.”

“That’s it?” Dennis asked. “What happened to your whole ‘bite me, scratch me, hurt me’ thing?”

“Fuck off,” Charlie replied. “Thought you said that was unhealthy.”

“Oh, it’s very unhealthy,” Dennis said, smiling. “But I don’t care. If it makes you happy, I’ll do it.” The unhealthiness of Charlie’s sudden desire to be hurt only made the request more appealing to Dennis. Because Dennis was a monster, he loved that unhealthiness. That pure, unadulterated sickness was like crack to him. It made him feel so fucking good, and much he had a taste of it, he needed more.

“If I wanna get hurt, I’ll hurt myself,” Charlie muttered.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t trust you not to fucking kill me.”

“Alright. That’s fair.”

“Now leave. I’ve got a lot of bleach to huff.”

“You said you’d stop huffing bleach if I kissed you.”

“I said I’d stop drinking it. And it’s not like you keep your promises anyway.”

“Charlie…”

“Leave, Dennis. I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Okay.” Dennis hung his head as he stepped out of the bathroom, leaving Charlie to huff bleach. Or drink it. Or hurt himself. Whatever he was doing, Dennis was powerless against it. And that hurt. Even though Dennis loved this new, extremely fucked-up, self-destructive Charlie, he couldn’t help but worry about just how much damage Charlie was doing to himself.

Dennis emerged from the bathroom only to be greeted by by Mac, absentmindedly wiping down the bar.

“How’s he doing?” Mac asked softly.

“He’s… bad,” Dennis replied. “He’s in there sniffing bleach.”

“Of course he is,” Mac said, shaking his head.

“He actually wants to come over tonight,” Dennis stated. “You think we should, I dunno, order some pizza? Grab a movie?”

“Yeah, sure. Just… promise me you won’t do anything weird, alright?”

“Oh, no, of course not! He’s all traumatised from… everything that just happened, I don’t wanna make it worse.”

“You better not,” Mac warned. “You nearly killed him, Dennis. It’s frankly amazing that he even wants to go near you anymore.”

 

“Can we not talk about how I’m responsible for my friend’s suicide attempt?”

“Alright. Sure. But you _are_ at least somewhat responsible.”

“I know, okay? And I feel awful about it! I’m not heartless. I care about the kid just as much as you do, I’m just… bad at feelings sometimes.”

“I get it, man. You’re fucked up! Boo-fucking-hoo! You’re also a rapist.”

“I said, can we not talk about it?”

“Fine, fine, alright. I’ll shut up. Just stop playing the victim here, man.”

“I’m not. I never was. I feel as awful about this as you do.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t rape anybody.”

“Shut up!” Dennis shouted. He stomped over to the bar, leaning over it threateningly. Mac didn’t back away. Of course a part of him was worried that Dennis might actually hurt him, but he couldn’t let Dennis have any more power than he already did. “I feel fucking awful about this, okay? I feel awful in a way that you could never fucking comprehend.”

“Den, I don’t care how you feel. This isn’t about you, or how guilty you feel, I don’t fucking care. Just stay away from him.”

“You’ll be there to protect him. You don’t have to worry.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll protect him.” Mac grinned, calmed nearly instantaneously after having his ego stroked a bit.

“Good,” Dennis agreed. He sulked away from the bar and off towards one of the booths. To Mac’s surprise, he buried his face in his hands and sat hunched over the table, seemingly struggling to process the events of the past week. There was feeling there. There was hurt, there was even maybe a hint of remorse.

“He’s really bad, isn’t he,” Mac said softly.

“He’s hurting himself, Mac.”

“Well, yeah, he’s been abusing substances since grade school. It’s a miracle he’s still standing.”

“No, I don’t mean like that. I mean like… emo kid shit. Real, actual, hurting.”

“Did you see it?”

“I saw the cuts. The scratches. It’s… bad.”

“Shit.”

“I know I broke him. And I feel awful about because I don’t know how to fix him. I don’t fix people. I just break them.”

“Look, I’m not making any promises, but… if we’re here for Charlie, and we support him and keep him safe and all that, I think he might go back to normal. It’ll be normal for him, of course, like he’d still huff glue and all that, but it’d be better.”

“That’s it? You just… stand by someone, and they get better?”

“Dude, I’ve been dealing with Charlie since we were little kids. I know how to make him better when he’s all fucked up like this.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

“It’ll be okay, man. Just trust me.”

“Okay.”

Dennis did as he was told-he stayed away from Charlie the rest of the day. It was terrifying at times; Dennis couldn’t shake the thought from his mind that Charlie could be seriously hurting himself in that bathroom and no one was there to stop him. But he knew Charlie didn’t need him right now. If he tried to go in there and comfort him, he’d only make everything worse.

To his relief, Charlie did show up at his and Mac’s apartment that night. He was as disheveled as ever, all hunched over and sad-looking with prominent dark rings around his eyes. Dennis was torn between being turned on and being horrified at just how tortured he looked.

The three of them sat on the couch, Mac forming a sort of barrier between Dennis and Charlie. Dennis felt that was fair. About halfway through the movie, Charlie curled up in a ball and laid his head on Mac’s thighs, allowing Mac to gently run his fingers through his hair. He looked comfortable, almost peaceful as he lied there, and Dennis knew it was good for him, but he couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. It should be him holding Charlie in his lap, playing with his hair and making him feel safe.

To his surprise, Charlie didn’t leave when the movie ended. He waited until Mac was out of earshot, then cautiously approached Dennis. Charlie wrapped his arms around him suddenly, and Dennis hugged him back, unsure of what exactly was happening. This hug went on for an uncomfortably long time before Charlie stood up straight, reaching just high enough to whisper something to Dennis.

“I want you to bang me.”

“What?” Dennis exclaimed, backing away from Charlie.

“You heard me,” Charlie hissed.

“Why? Since when?”

“Because… I just do, okay? And I know you want to, so stop being a baby about it and just bang me already.”

“Last time I did that you tried to kill yourself. Are you really sure?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.”

“Just… why, dude? What’s gotten into you?”

“I told you. I like hurting now.”

“No. No. Not happening. I’m not going to help you hurt yourself.”

“What, so it’s okay when I don’t want it, but now that I actually do, you’re refusing?”

“Charlie, you’re unstable. I can’t do something like that to you.”

“I’ve always been unstable! I’ve always been fucking unstable and that didn’t stop you beforehand so what’s stopping you now?”

“Uh. Mac told me not to.”

“Mac? _Mac?_ ” Charlie laughed, falling backwards onto the couch. “Dude, you haven’t listened to a word Mac’s said, ever. Why now?”

“Because last time I fucked you, you tried to kill yourself. It’s not just Mac, it’s that… if you died, and it was my fault…”

“Den, it wasn’t really your fault. I told you, I’ve been all messed up since I was a kid.” Charlie laid on his side across the couch, staring smugly at Dennis. “What step are you on in your system, anyway?”

“Considering I can’t neglect you emotionally when you’re like this, I guess I’m on Inspire Hope.”

“Well then, come on! Inspire some hope in me, man.”

“That makes no sense. At all.”

“I don’t give a shit! Just fuck me.”

“No. You just want me to hurt you, and I’m not doing that.”

“Shut up. You already did, man.”

“I know, I know, when I fucked you before, but things are different-”

“Nah, not that. This.”

Charlie pulled down the collar of his shirt to expose the bite Dennis had left on his neck. It looked absolutely disgusting-the bite marks had turned a sickly reddish-purple, and a big yellow bruise surrounded them.

“Oh my god. I’m sorry,” Dennis whispered, staring at the thing. Charlie just smiled in response.

“No, it feels amazing. I love it. I wanna hurt more, dude. I want you to fuck me so hard that it’ll hurt to move when I wake up tomorrow.”

“I don’t wanna do that to you.”

“Okay, okay, here’s the thing. Pretend I’m the old Charlie. Pretend I never shot myself, pretend I don’t have PTSD or whatever. Would you do it then?”

“I guess I would’ve, but it would’ve messed you up, man.”

“I wanna be messed up. Please, Dennis. I can beg for you, you know.”

“Don’t… do that,” Dennis choked out. Charlie could tell he wanted him to beg though. Begging was one of Dennis’ favorite things. It made him feel wanted, it made him feel powerful.

Charlie hopped off the couch and kneeled on the floor, hands clasped, eyes wide, mouth in a perpetual and obnoxious smirk.

“Please, Dennis. I promise I’ll be good. I promise I’ll stop scratching and cutting myself. I just need you to fuck me, okay?”

“Stop it,” Dennis commanded. He was using his sex voice, which made Charlie hopeful. Dennis walked up to him slowly and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him up.

“What?” Charlie asked, still maintaining those sweet, pleading eyes.

“If you’re gonna be like this,” Dennis whispered roughly, “I at least want everything on tape.”

Charlie smiled as Dennis lead him into his room once again. He began to shake once he entered the room, remembering briefly what had previously happened to him in that place. This nervous shaking was soon replaced by shivers of anticipation as Dennis lead him towards the bed.

“Sit,” he commanded, and Charlie did as he was told. “Take your clothes off, and keep the begging coming. You’re really gonna need to sell me on this.”

Charlie wasted no time taking off his jacket and shirt and throwing them to the floor next to him. The cuts and scratches were still somewhat of a shock to Dennis, but his gaze moved elsewhere as Charlie continued to undress. He did have to change his position on the bed a few times in order to remove his pants, but Dennis was still impressed by his form. Once he was naked, Charlie kneeled on Dennis’ bed and faced Dennis, who stood pensively at the foot of the bed, judging Charlie’s every move.

“Dennis, look. You’re getting what you want, right? And now it’s my turn. I need you. I need you to-to do things to me.”

“You can do better,” Dennis said with a shrug.

“Please,” Charlie whined. “Please, Dennis, fuck me. Fuck me right fucking now.”

“Okay, that’s better,” Dennis said, nodding. He unzipped his pants, which prompted Charlie to practically start salivating.

“I swear I’ll be so good, I’ll let you do whatever you want. You can do all those awful, awful things you said you wanted to do to me. Please.”

“Now, don’t get your hopes up,” Dennis said, his voice thick and dominant as he climbed into the bed and kneeled across from Charlie. “It’ll be quick and easy. And it’ll hurt. Is that good enough for you, you little slut?”

“Yes. Yes, master.”

“Don’t ‘master’ me. I’m not your master. I don’t own you. And after this, this one time, everything’s gonna go back to normal. Okay?”

“Okay.”

And with that, Dennis tackled Charlie onto the bed, pinning him down with one hand while hastily searching his nightstand for lube with the other. Charlie’s breath quickened at the thought of being pinned down, but he powered through it. This was all going to be worth it.

Dennis pushed himself into Charlie with little warning whatsoever, getting himself nearly all the way in on the first thrust. Charlie yelped. It was adorable. He always seemed to make the cutest noises when he was being fucked-all these little grunts and whines and moans, full of desperation and pain. Dennis thrust himself into Charlie as hard as he could, bringing on whines and tears which made him remember why he had given Charlie four stars.

It was over too soon in Charlie’s opinion-the sensation of Dennis cumming inside of him and filling him up came so suddenly and unexpectedly. For a second he just stayed where he was, trying to pick up on the deep pain he was sure would come rushing back in a few seconds once he got over the shock of his own orgasm. Dennis lied down next to him, still fully clothed with only his pants unzipped and his waistband riding a little low. Charlie rolled over to face him.

“Was that good, baby?” Dennis asked. Charlie nodded. He didn’t even call Dennis out on calling him ‘baby’ again.

“I suppose I should be heading home, huh,” Charlie mused, not making any move to even put his clothes on.

“No, no, stay with me,” Dennis pleaded. “You can sleep in my bed.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause I wanna watch you sleep. Not in a creepy way, just… to make sure you don’t do anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Charlie said with a grin. He figured Dennis really did just want to watch him sleep, but he was okay with that. It was just one night, after all. He got up briefly and put his boxers back on before crawling back into bed with Dennis.

“I’m so glad you’re alive, Charlie,” Dennis whispered, running a hand through Charlie’s hair.

“Uh… me too, I guess,” Charlie said. He smiled, burying his head in Dennis’ chest. Dennis put an arm around him.

Charlie never would’ve thought it would happen, but somehow having Dennis hold him close like that made him feel safe. He managed to sleep soundly through the night, no beer or glue or cat food required.


	6. S-Separate (Not) Entirely

Mac didn’t want to ask why Charlie was still at their apartment the next morning. In fact, Charlie clung onto Dennis as Dennis wandered around the kitchen, drinking his usual black coffee (and nothing else). Charlie was staring at Dennis with big, sweet eyes. It was weird-those eyes were usually reserved for the Waitress, but here he was giving Dennis that same lovestruck gaze. Mac couldn’t help himself. He had to know.

“What happened between you guys last night?” Mac asked through a mouthful of toast.

“Nothing,” Charlie mumbled, his face turning bright red. Dennis smiled as he ran his hand through Charlie’s hair.

“It’s none of your business, Mac,” Dennis said, a smug grin on his face. Charlie leaned into him, avoiding eye contact with Mac.

“You didn’t bang, did you?” Mac asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Hmmm… yeah,” Charlie said softly, sounding extremely ashamed of himself. “It was so good, dude. So fucking good.”

“Charlie, come on!” Dennis snapped. “That was a one-time thing, okay? It was just… just the one time.”

“I know, I know, I’m just… I’m having a lot of feelings right now, man. A lot of feelings in a lot of places-”

“Alright, alright, stop,” Mac interjected. “TMI, dude.”

“Sorry. It’s just been weird, man. Things have been weird,” Charlie said absentmindedly.

“Yeah, I guess they have,” Mac agreed.

Charlie buried his face in Dennis’ neck as Dennis finished off his coffee. He took a fistful of Dennis’ shirt and held onto him tightly, keeping as close as possible as Dennis set his coffee mug in the sink. He clung tightly to Dennis even as the two of them approached the apartment’s exit and made their way down to Dennis’ car.

“You okay there, buddy?” Dennis asked, patting Charlie on the shoulder.

“Mhm. Yeah, I’m good,” Charlie replied, his voice stifled by the collar of Dennis’ shirt. “I just wanna stay with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want this to be over.”

“You want me to keep fucking you?”

“Uh… I dunno. I think maybe I wanna be like… boyfriends.”

Dennis was kicking himself. His system had worked so perfectly, as he knew it would. Charlie had fulfilled his role as the perfect target-he had let himself be controlled, broken down and then built up again so well. And now, so much hope had been inspired in him that he really believed he could have Dennis as his boyfriend. But that could never happen. Dennis didn’t do boyfriends. Dennis didn’t do real emotional commitment. Ever.

“Oh, man, no you don’t,” Dennis said sweetly.

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Charlie, look at me.” Dennis pulled Charlie aside. The two of them stood next to the Range Rover while Mac sat impatiently in the back seat.

“Hm?” Charlie mumbled. He looked up intently at Dennis.

“You do not want to be my boyfriend.”

“Okay, except… I do.”

“No! No, dude, I nearly got you killed. I can’t do this.”

“You wanted another chance, right? This is it, dude. I know you’re sorry about what happened to me. I think… you can do better. I wanna see you do better. With me.”

“No, you don’t get it, okay? I don’t know how you haven’t realised this after knowing me for, I dunno, twenty years, but… I’m a bad person.”

“That sounds so stupid, man.”

“Just let me say this, okay? I’m a bad person! I don’t do better. Ever. I don’t change. It’s just like you said. I use people up and then I throw them away. And guess what? I’m done with you.”

“You’re gonna Separate Entirely.”

“Not entirely. I mean, we co-own a bar, I can’t just get rid of you.”

“Thought you said I sold all my shares.”

“Well… you own it in… spirit. Okay?”

“That’s… actually kinda sweet.”

“It’s not sweet! It’s not fucking sweet! I just know that Mac would kill me if I tried to kick you out of the bar. Plus, I literally think you’d be homeless if you didn’t work at the bar.”

“There we go.”

“So you’ll be okay, right? Like, we can just be friends, and you won’t try to kill yourself again or anything?”

“Yeah, sure dude.”

“Alright. Good.”

They got into the car, and drove to work in complete silence. Not even Mac tried to break the thick veil of quiet that covered the car. All three of them knew why. They’d all watched Dennis’ system play out a thousand times, and they knew it always inevitably ended with emotional detachment from Dennis and bitter abandonment for his victim. And while Dennis may not have been planning on leaving Charlie altogether, the bitterness would still be there.

There was still an uncomfortable air about Paddy’s Pub when the trio entered, no doubt because of Charlie’s current state.

“Charlie,” Frank called out sternly, approaching the three men standing in the doorway. “You didn’t come home last night.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Charlie said. “I was busy, alright?”

“Do _not_ do that to me, alright? I thought you’d gone and offed yourself somewhere.”

“Why would I have done that?”

“I dunno, dammit! Why’d you do it the first time?”

Charlie didn’t reply. He shrunk back behind Mac and Dennis, ashamed.

“You’re not going back over to Dennis’ place again tonight, are you?” Frank asked.

“No,” Dennis replied for Charlie. “He’s better off staying with you.”

Charlie sulked to himself. This was going to hurt. A lot. He never thought he’d long for Dennis fucking Reynolds of all people, and yet here he was.

Unsurprisingly, Charlie showed up at Mac and Dennis’ apartment again that night. Dennis tried to turn him away at the door, but Mac insisted on letting him stay at least a little while.

“Den, come on, have a heart,” he insisted. “The kid’s obviously got some issues he needs to deal with, so at least let him work his shit out before you abandon him forever, okay?”

“Okay. But nothing more is going to happen between us. It’s done.”

“I never said you had to bang him, I’m just saying let him share his feelings with you. Like a normal human being.”

“Come on. You’re enabling him.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Charlie yelled from the hallway.

“Alright, fine,” Dennis sighed. “Come in, Charlie.”

Charlie cautiously stepped through the door, holding his hands behind his back. His eyes were wide and completely fixed on Dennis, and he walked slowly and with a purpose that was quite unlike his usual demeanor. Dennis stared back at him with tired eyes. This whole ordeal wasn’t over yet. Charlie was stupid, but he was determined.

“What do you have?” Dennis asked, holding out his hand. He glared at Charlie.

Charlie stared down at the floor and moved his hands from behind his back. Clutched in his grasp was a bouquet of dandelions. It was a shitty gift, yes, but it was so distinctly characteristic of Charlie that it warmed Dennis’ cold, empty heart. A handful of dandelions, trashy unwanted flowers which Charlie had likely found in a vacant lot somewhere, collected haphazardly into a bouquet the likes of which an elementary school child gives to their first crush. Dennis reached out a hand and accepted the bouquet only to notice beads of red liquid dotting the dandelion stems. He looked back at Charlie and saw to his horror that his wrists were bloodied. A drop of blood fell to the carpet, making a soft “plunk” sound which pierced through Dennis’ mind. He felt awful.

“Mac,” he said shakily, gripping the dandelions so tightly that the waxy juice within the stems gushed out onto his hands. “Get a glass of water from the kitchen.”

“Den… they’re dandelions,” Mac said softly.

“They are a _gift!_ ” Dennis shouted. “They are a gift, and we will appreciate them as one would a gift!”

Mac threw up his hands and walked away to the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water. Upon returning, he set the glass on the coffee table and Dennis gently placed the dandelions in the glass. Mac left the room again once the flowers had been set, fearing a confrontation as Dennis turned back toward Charlie.

“Your wrists,” he muttered, glancing down. Charlie hid his hands behind his back in shame, but Dennis snatched his arm angrily, the harsh slap of his hand stinging Charlie’s skin. Charlie let out a hiss of pain, but he couldn’t do anything to pull himself out of Dennis’ grasp.

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself, I swear,” Charlie whined.

“You sure are getting rid out a lot of blood for someone who doesn’t want to die,” Dennis said angrily. Beads of red spouted from Charlie’s wrist as Dennis shook his arm aggressively. The cuts were shorter than wrist slits usually would be, yes, but they were placed at odd and seemingly random angles, making it genuinely hard to tell if they were the product of wildly erratic self-harming or a seriously botched suicide attempt. Given Charlie’s current mental state, Dennis really wasn’t sure either way.

“I didn’t say I didn’t wanna die,” Charlie argued.

“Really not helping your case, buddy,” Dennis shot back. He yanked Charlie by the arm, guiding him into the bathroom. Keeping one hand firmly around Charlie’s forearm, he dug through the medicine cabinet with the other until he found a roll of bandages.

“It’s not that bad,” Charlie muttered.

“I swear to god,” Dennis growled as he tightly wrapped the bandages around Charlie’s wrist. “If you keep bleeding like this, you are going to fucking die. Now let me get these bandages on you.”

Charlie let his arms go limp in Dennis’ gentle, calloused hands come and allowed him to wrap the bandages around his wrists. Dennis was still as harsh as ever, pulling the bandages tight and digging his nails into Charlie’s flesh as he worked. Charlie leaned into the touch as if it was the only thing keeping him alive (because, really, it was). He pressed his face into Dennis’ chest, crying softly into his shirt. Dennis sighed as he set down the roll of bandages on the sink countertop, wrapping his arms around Charlie and gently rubbing his back.

Dennis felt torn. The terrible and angry part of his mind knew that at least some of this was manipulation. Charlie wanted Dennis back, so he’d pulled out all the stops to win his heart. He’d brought flowers, he’d sliced up his arms, he’d gotten Dennis to care for him. It was textbook manipulation; some of these things even felt like tactics Dennis himself had employed in his system before. Except this was Charlie. He wasn’t like Dennis, he didn’t spend his life coming up with schemes and systems to manipulate people into loving him. He was, at heart, a hopeless romantic. A kid with a handful of dandelions, desperately trying to find love in a big, confusing world. A kid who got heartbroken and did stupid things, because he was stupid and sad and that was just how he’d always dealt with things. A kid who took physical pain better than emotional pain, so much so that he’d nearly bleed himself to death before facing his problems.

Charlie looked up at Dennis, tears pouring from his sweet, innocent eyes.

“You can’t do this,” Dennis whispered. He took Charlie’s hands in his own, running his thumbs across the bandages on his wrists. His vision blurred as tears pooled in his eyes.

“I just don’t wanna lose you, Dennis,” Charlie whimpered.

“ _You_ don’t wanna lose _me?_ ” Dennis choked out. “Charlie, I watched you try to kill yourself. I’m having _nightmares_ about losing you.”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, okay?” Charlie cried. He fell back into Dennis’ chest, draping his arms over his shoulders and holding on tight.

“It’s okay, buddy. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“No. No, it’s not. I need you, man. I need you, or-or I might do something.”

“Charlie, you’re like, my best friend. I’m here for you. You’ll be okay.”

“But… do you love me?”

“Not in the way you probably want me to, no. I… I never did. I just wanted to try my system on you. Because I’m a bad person. But if you still want me in your life, after everything I did to you, I’m right here.”

“Can you kiss me?”

Dennis leaned down and quickly kissed Charlie on the forehead.

“No, not like that,” Charlie grumbled. “You know what I meant.” He moved so he was nearly eye to eye with Dennis, tear-filled eyes wide with anticipation.

“I can’t,” Dennis insisted. “We’re not in love, okay?”

“Except I am. I’m in love with you, Dennis Reynolds. So come on. Kiss me.” He clasped his hands together in desperation, his blood-stained bandages briefly slipping into Dennis’ line of sight. Dennis chose to believe this was unintentional.

“Look, Charlie. Just listen to me for one second, okay? We can’t be boyfriends. We can’t be in love. But… in a way, I think I love you too. Like, friend-love. Because when you were in that hospital, and you had just tried to kill yourself, I was up all night worrying about you. And I think that’s what love really is. It’s giving so much of a shit about someone that you lose sleep over them.”

“I mean… I don’t think that’s usually how that works, but sure.”

“I love you, man.”

“Love you too.”

And then they hugged again, this time with no desperation or sadness or emotional baggage, but instead because they loved each other. It was the best hug either of them had ever experienced.

“Promise me you’ll be okay?” Dennis asked.

“I think so,” Charlie replied. “I hope so.”

They emerged from the bathroom to find Mac sitting on the arm of the couch, eating a skinless apple. The dandelions were still sitting in the glass on the coffee table, but they’d already started to go brown, as dandelions often did when you picked them at the stems and put them in a glass of water. It was okay though.

Mac’s eyes immediately went to the bandages on Charlie’s wrists.

“Shit, dude, what happened to your arms?” he asked, leaping off the couch and rushing over to Charlie.

“Nothing,” Charlie muttered. “Tried to off myself again earlier.”

The second part was nearly inaudible, but Dennis heard it nonetheless.

“I thought you said-” he stammered, too disturbed to be angry at Charlie again.

“I lied,” Charlie explained. “Thought I’d come over and die in your arms. It would’ve been romantic.”

“What? No! It would not have been romantic, it would’ve been awful!”

“Yeah, that too, I guess.”

“Charlie, are you okay?” Mac asked calmly. “Do you need to go back to the hospital?”

“No,” Dennis interjected. “The cuts aren’t that bad, anyway. He probably would’ve been fine even if I hadn’t bandaged him up like that.”

“I don’t mean like that, I mean…” Mac’s face grew sullen as the reality hit him. “The mental ward. If he’s doing _that_ …”

“He’s fine,” Dennis insisted. He wrapped an arm around Charlie and held him close. Charlie was dragged along with him as he took a step away from Mac.

“Hey, calm down. I’m just worried he might not be safe-”

“He’ll be safe! He’ll be perfectly safe with _me_ , okay? You’re not gonna take him back there.”

“Dennis, stop. I know you want… actually, I don’t have a goddamn clue what you want, but he’d be safer at the hospital than with you.”

“No! You’re not gonna take him!” Dennis tightened his hold on Charlie.

“I don’t know what your problem is with hospitals all of a sudden. I just think we need to do what’s best for him, okay?”

“What’s best for him? The kid runs on glue fumes and alcohol, Mac! If they take those away from him again he might actually rip himself to pieces.”

“But he wouldn’t be able to in there.”

“You know what? Charlie has ears, right? Maybe we should let him decide.”

Mac looked intently at Charlie. Dennis looked angrily at Mac and continued to hold Charlie close.

“I-I wanna stay with Dennis,” Charlie decided.

“See? He’s staying with me,” Dennis proclaimed.

“So? Maybe he just wants to stay because he’s trying to figure out where it’d be easiest to kill himself.”

“Jesus Christ, Mac. Usually I’m the one assuming the worst in people.”

And with that, Dennis lead Charlie to his bedroom, leaving Mac to finish his skinless apple in utter bewilderment.

The two of them slept soundly that night. Surprisingly, there was no more crying, but they did sleep very close together for emotional support. Charlie was, as always, extremely cute when he slept. He had this way of holding his hands up by his face as he lay curled up on the pillow, like some sort of rodent, but in a cute way. His soft brown hair tickled Dennis’ face as the two lay side by side, tucked against each other in the dead center of the bed. It was comforting, each one knowing that the other was close and safe.

Dennis opted to change Charlie’s bandages before they headed into work the next morning. The cuts had thankfully stopped bleeding several hours before, but bandages were much less unsightly than fresh cuts, and both of them figured having open wounds on your arms while working in a dirty bathroom all day was kind of a bad idea. Despite being perfectly capable of doing it himself, Charlie made Dennis take off the old bandages and put on a new layer. Dennis was much more gentle this time, and Charlie enjoyed the soft touch of his hands as they caressed his skin and occasionally brushed against the cuts that covered his wrists. It felt good, even healing.

Charlie actually seemed like his old self again that morning as they drove to Paddy’s, smiling and making animal noises at passersby throughout the drive. It was nice to see him like that again-for the first time in nearly two weeks, the gang had their wild card back.

Everything was going to be okay. Or at least, as okay as it had ever been.


End file.
